


Beyond the Mirror

by Amalya



Category: f(x)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-11
Updated: 2019-10-27
Packaged: 2020-08-18 23:17:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 40,910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20199826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amalya/pseuds/Amalya
Summary: Sunyoung's life is pretty normal by any standard. Her job is busy but not terrible, her friends are great - Amber especially so, and overall, things are pretty good for her. Well, except for the fact she can't write the music she wants to write and she's still lamentably single - and uselessly crushing on a certain someone. On the other hand, when she literally gets pulled through a mirror, everything changes.This is inspired by the prompt:"Mirrors are a door to another dimension and you can just walk right through them. Well, you could, if the people known as 'reflections' weren't hired to keep you out."I adore f(x) and while I haven't actually done a true yuri piece yet, I figured why not start here. Don't expect anything explicit but I'm more than curious and willing to see just how Luna and Amber pair together. Especially with the adventure I have in mind. heh





	1. (Not) Seeing Things

Warm sunlight spilled over her shoulder, dancing on the mostly blank composition sheet in front of her, and Sunyoung sighed. Thoughts tumbled around in her mind all day, but when she sat down to make magic happen, nothing came to her. She glanced down at her thin wristwatch and frowned at the time. It was one of her days off but three twenty five was later than she thought and it already felt like she’d lost more of the day than she should have. “Why is this so hard some days?” she groaned aloud, toying with a lock of long, brunette hair. Her mocha eyes narrowed in frustrated concentration and she tapped the pencil eraser against the page in agitation.

“Boo!” Hands hit her shoulders and someone spoke into her ear.

“Yah!” Sunyoung screamed, literally falling off the old stump she was sitting on as she tossed everything else away. Heart pounding madly against her ribs and completely disoriented, familiar laughter clued her in to what had happened. She didn’t know whether to be more scared still or angry or amused. Maybe all three. “Amber!” she scowled, turning to find the thoroughly amused young woman laughing at her.

Short blonde hair just managed to hide her laughing face as she tried to stay standing, her hands resting on her knees. “Oh man,” she gasped in amusement, peeking up from under her bangs to grin at her friend, the expression strangely disarming. Especially because her coffee colored eyes practically sparkled in her joy.

“You scared me,” Sunyoung chided, slowly getting back up as she looked around for her tossed items.

“Sorry,” Amber chuckled, wiping at her eyes before she stood upright, revealing her customary plain t-shirt and ripped jeans attire. “I had to try.”

“I noticed,” her companion laughed once, finally starting to calm down. Sunyoung brushed at her jean skirt and then bent down to retrieve her pencil before searching out the rest.

“Here you go,” Amber offered, extending the composition book in a sign of truce.

“Thanks,” Sunyoung smiled, shaking her head while she glanced up at her taller friend. “You’re terrible.”

“Only sometimes,” she responded, an easy smile quirking the corners of her mouth up.

Sunyoung bent down to pick up her purse beside the tree stump and slung it over her shoulder, biting her lip thoughtfully as she turned to regard Amber again. “What are you doing here anyway?” Her gesture took in the rest of the slowly filling park. School was just getting out so the kiddies were coming to play.

“Looking for you, actually,” Amber winked, stuffing her hands in her pockets and shrugging her shoulders. “Didn’t find you at your place and you weren’t answering your phone,” she nodded towards the peach purse, “so figured I’d check your usual haunts.”

“You know me so well,” Sunyoung snorted, finally back to her normal self. “So. What did you want?” she asked with a grin, stepping close with her hands and supplies behind her back.

“Figured I’d ask if you wanted to get a bite to eat,” was the quick answer. “I know it’s not really food time but I’m hungry. You game?” she asked, extending her arm in a mute invitation.

She wasn’t really hungry, but obviously she wasn’t getting much done and, if nothing else, she always enjoyed the company. “Sure,” she shrugged in acquiescence, taking Amber’s arm in hers. “What did you have in mind?”

“I kind of wanted to try that new burger joint downtown,” she grinned, looking down to see how her friend would react. “I also kind of invited some of the guys too, so…”

Sunyoung rolled her eyes and laughed once. “So we should probably go there anyway.”

“Yes!” Amber yipped, raising her other hand in a victorious fist.

“Hopeless.”

“You know you love me,” she teased, wrinkling her nose and pointing her finger at Sunyoung’s cheek before she poked it playfully.

“Don’t ask me why,” the shorter woman shook her head, an unavoidable grin appearing as she gave her companion a sidelong look.

“Why?”

“Woman!” she snapped in amusement, slapping at Amber’s arm.

“Okay, okay. I’ll be good,” Amber promised, tightening her hold on Sunyoung’s arm as she guided them towards the street. Sunyoung had walked to the park and Amber didn’t have a car so mostly they made do with taxis or buses. Looked like Amber wanted to take a taxi today. One hand rose to catch a yellow cab’s attention before she wolf whistled for added effect.

“How are you so good at that?” she asked, looking at the taller woman in miffed awe. She could barely manage a regular whistle, much less something as sharp and loud as that.

“Lots of practice,” Amber nodded, opening the door for her companion before sliding in to join her.

“That’s it?” she asked in disbelieving response.

“That’s it.” Sympathetically, Amber pat Sunyoung’s knee and then left her hand there for the duration of the relatively short cab ride. “So… how’s composing going?” she asked, glancing down at the composition book.

“It’s not,” Sunyoung sighed, playing with the edges of the book in frustrated misery. “It’s just, whenever I sit down to write, nothing happens.”

Amber’s face turned thoughtful and she nodded. “Maybe you’re just having a hard time finding out where to start. You could try just jumping into the middle of it. Do the first thing that comes to mind,” she threw out there, glancing at the rear view mirror once and smiling at the cabbie before shifting her attention back to Sunyoung.

“Maybe,” she admitted, opening and closing the cover just a bit. Really, if she couldn’t get something done today, she’d probably just have to set it aside for the week. Work was going to be crazy busy with it being the end of the second quarter. “I’ll let you know,” she added with a nod, placing her hand atop Amber’s with a gentle squeeze.

“Good,” Amber grinned, glancing up to confirm they’d almost arrived. She checked the cost and then dug her wallet out of her back pocket to pay. “I’ve got it.”

“I can help,” Sunyoung offered, already reaching for her purse.

Amber just waved it off and handed the cash to the cabbie. Like before, after she got her change, she rushed around to finish opening the door for Sunyoung and bowed theatrically. “My lady,” she laughed, her expression cheeky.

“Thank you,” she giggled, hopping out and then racing for the door to the restaurant so Amber couldn’t beat her. “My turn!” she called, dragging the barrier open with a mirror of Amber’s previous expression. “After you,” she bowed, earning a delighted laugh in response.

“Don’t mind if I do,” she responded, ducking in quickly as her fingertips brushed against Sunyoung’s side lightly.

Sunyoung’s stomach jolted at the sensation and she pursed her lips, letting the door close behind her. Brushing away her musings, she stepped into the atmosphere of obvious American pop music and random paraphernalia, and glanced around. The restaurant was a bit on the quiet side, with only a handful of people, so Amber was easy enough to find. Well, her and the boys – young men really – she’d already invited. As was usual, Amber, Aron, Wonshik, Jackson, and Ren were all sitting in one of the corner booths with no windows, comfortably squeezed together and already laughing. She really fit in with them so easily…

As if she realized she was being scrutinized, Amber looked up and waved. “Sunyoung!”

“Hey!” came an immediate chorus of greetings as the four young men noticed her at the same time.

“Welcome, welcome!” That from Jackson immediately, his mouth grinning broadly while dark eyes gleamed under short dyed blonde hair.

“Scoot over,” Aron chided, forcefully shoving Jackson – and Wonshik – to shift so there would be more room for their last addition.

“You can sit next to me, Sunyoung,” Wonshik waved, wagging his eyebrow as he gestured towards the tiny sliver of seat remaining next to him.

“Aish,” Amber snorted, reaching over to lightly smack Wonshik on the top of his orange colored head. “Stop that,” she laughed, looking over once more to wave Sunyoung to her side. “She’ll sit next to me, thank you,” she stated, her tone playful but firm.

“But you always hog her when she’s around,” Ren teased as he sat next to Amber. He glanced to his other side for confirmation from the other three, who all nodded simultaneously.

“Then next time, I’ll sit in the middle,” Sunyoung offered, flushing when all eyes turned to her with excited cheers around.

“Don’t encourage them,” Amber laughed, grabbing Sunyoung’s hand and pulling her down next to her, their hands lingering just longer than necessary. “Although…” she trailed off for a moment, looking at the group and then looking at Ren beside her. “Maybe we should shake things up a bit. Wonshik! Switch!” she called, pointing at the orange haired man first before she ushered Sunyoung out so Ren could shift and shuffle to the other side of the table.

“Why?” Wonshik whined, clearly happy with where he was.

“Because I like the outside and this way, you can sit next to Sunyoung,” Ren promised with a wink from under his black fringe.

“Oh. Yes!” Wonshik grinned, hopping up like an excited kid so he could skip around the table – making faces at Aron and Jackson in the process, before he threw himself into the booth and waited for Sunyoung to join him. “Hey there,” he tried to charm her as she sat down, the smile just a touch too close to a leer.

“Hi,” Sunyoung laughed nervously, looking at Amber for help.

“I swear,” Amber scowled, reaching over to smack him on the head again.

“Ow!” he yelped, partially hiding behind Aron as he retreated. “Abuse!”

“Wuss,” Aron teased with an amused smirk.

Sunyoung couldn’t help but laugh at their exchanges. Generally, they had too much energy for her, but some days it was quite entertaining. Especially because this was how they acted most of the time, girl or no girl. A bunch of fools. Except for maybe Ren. She wasn’t sure about him yet, not the least of which was because he was strangely difficult to read. Much like Amber had been when they’d first met a little over a year ago. She knew Ren was a man but put him in a dress and makeup and he could pass for a stunningly beautiful woman too. Kind of like Amber could very easily pass for a man if she really wanted to…

They were briefly interrupted by a waitress who asked them for their drinks and orders. Really, she just wanted to steal some of Amber’s fries and said as much, so her friend upsized her side to a large. Not surprisingly, the boys all got massive burgers and large fries too, but only for themselves. And then they went back to their usual antics. They had a habit of topic jumping, going from sports, to games, to anime, to music, to news as often as they teased each other.

When the food arrived, completely filling the table, it didn’t stop them much either. They continued their conversation, tossing questions her way when she was quiet for too long. But mostly they let her join in at her own pace and kept their ribbing to each other. They really were all interesting. Wonshik and Jackson were in college, so their afternoons were usually mostly free. Aron worked a third shift job at a factory or something, if she remembered correctly. And Amber and Ren… didn’t have jobs as far as Sunyoung could tell. She sort of envied them. It would be nice not having to work for a while. Especially at a job she didn’t really care for.

For a moment, she turned her attention to Ren and noticed that while he was listening to the conversation, he also seemed to be looking around. But she didn’t know what he was looking at. It wasn’t the people nearby. Or the decorations on the walls exactly. Before she could figure it out, he noticed her attention and flashed her a smile that could have melted ice in a freezer. Her stomach did that traitorous jolt again and she gave him a nervous smile in return.

“And what about you, Sunyoung? Plans for the weekend?” he asked, honing in on the last part of the conversation the other guys were carrying.

When everyone fell silent to hear her answer, all eyes once again returning to her, she wanted to just hide behind Amber. Instead, she took a breath and laughed once, threading a strand of hair behind her ear and eating another fry to buy her time. “Work, probably,” she shrugged, chewing on her bottom lip uncertainly. “The end of the quarters are always busy.”

Pained groans followed her statement. “You have _got_ to find another job,” Jackson pointed at her before searching his plate for an errant fry.

“Seriously,” Aron echoed. “You’re wasted in an office secretary position.”

Sunyoung wasn’t sure what he meant by it and Amber stepped in to rescue him. “He means they don’t deserve you and you should be trying to do what you love.”

“Right!” Wonshik chirped beside her. “How’s the music writing going? Can I see?”

“No,” she answered immediately, grabbing her composition book and holding it close. When he looked surprised bordering on mildly alarmed, she forced a laugh and shook her head. “I’m not finished and it’s… not really that good.”

“She’s lying,” Amber betrayed her with a knowing look at her companion. “Well, about the not good part. She isn’t finished, but you’re brilliant,” she assured her younger companion with a completely serious look.

“Oh! I wanna hear,” Ren grinned, leaning forward as he looked between Amber and Sunyoung expectantly.

“Eh…” Sunyoung trailed off, glancing around the expectant faces nervously. “Maybe next time.” She cringed at the expected chorus of “Aws” that followed.

“She just wants it to be perfect for you guys,” Amber reassured them with a dismissive wave, though her other hand reached down to pat Sunyoung’s thigh comfortingly.

“Do you need any help?” Jackson wondered, leaning forward again. “I’ve dabbled in song writing too, you know?”

“Oh! Me too!” Wonshik and Aron raised their hands at the same time, glaring at each other mildly competitively.

“I’ll let you know,” she explained quietly, thumbing at her composition book with nervous fingers in the meantime.

That seemed to satisfy them enough, thankfully. She was pretty sure they genuinely just liked to tease her and/or be helpful in equal measure. After all, they were all single – for now – and they were all friends. She just wasn’t as good at the teasing back as they seemed to be, and try as she might, her reactions always made them try harder. It was cute and funny, in an aggravating kind of way. At least there was Amber… and time. Frowning at her watch, she made a small disappointed noise in the back of her throat.

“What’s wrong?” Amber asked, obviously hearing her.

With a groan, Sunyoung looked up and announced, “I should probably be going soon.”

Disappointed sounds met that announcement, but then Aron cringed. “Yeah. Me too. I’ve got a test tomorrow I have _not _studied for,” he laughed, running long fingers through his dark hair.

“Ugh… me too actually,” Wonshik added, looking at the man beside him before he slung an arm over his shoulder. “Wanna be study buddies tonight?”

“Eh, sure,” Aron shrugged, raising his hand to try and flag down the waitress so they could get the check.

“I guess a nap before work wouldn’t hurt,” Jackson laughed, pretending to yawn.

“Knowing you, you’ll nap _at_ work,” Ren snorted beside him.

“Hey!” he scowled in mock outrage. “You’re probably right though,” he added after a moment, making everyone laugh.

“I’ve got you,” Amber waved off Sunyoung’s attempt to give her money for the fries at least.

“But…”

“You only ate a couple,” she laughed, pushing Sunyoung’s hand away and then bopping her on the nose with her finger. “We ready?” she called out, looking around the table.

“Yep!” they answered almost in unison.

As a group, the crowd shuffled towards the front where they could pay separately easier. Sunyoung stayed close to Amber, but listened to the young men around her. Just like any other day. She felt a bit bad for not actually paying anything but it was hard to argue with Amber about that. It was strange though. She didn’t know where she got the money. As far as Sunyoung was aware, Amber didn’t have a job and she never gave her a straight answer about it either… Ah well. She glanced around, eyeing the paraphernalia again and then saw her reflection on the counter. It was faint and distorted and she felt like it was a representation of her song writing at the moment, but then she noticed something else. Amber was standing right next to her, waiting to pay for her food, but… she didn’t see her in the reflection on the surface.

“Huh…?” she hummed in confusion, reaching a hand to test the surface. But then someone or something bumped her from behind and she hit the counter and Amber at the same time.

“Watch it!” Ren yelped, his hands reaching to steady Sunyoung while he half-heartedly glared at the three next to him.

“What?” they murmured in near unison, a bit confused.

“Sorry,” Ren flushed, ducking his head in embarrassment. “Felt like someone pushed me.” Aron, Wonshik, and Jackson looked confused but Sunyoung noticed Ren look at Amber immediately after, his expression not so embarrassed.

Amber made eye contact with Sunyoung then and beamed, “Hey. You okay?”

“Yeah,” Sunyoung murmured uncertainly, glancing back at the counter that didn’t show any of them anymore, since they’d stepped away a bit. Well, Wonshik was moving up to pay but they were otherwise away from the semi-reflective surface. “I’m good,” she nodded, holding the composition book tight. “I think I just need a break or need to focus on something else,” she promised, trying to reassure herself as much as anyone else that nothing was wrong.

“Alright. I’ll walk you home,” Amber encouraged, giving her a nudge towards the door. “Gotta pay first,” she laughed, retrieving her wallet to step back to the counter.

“Okay. See you outside,” she smiled, turning the expression to Ren when he held the door open for her. “Thanks.”

“My pleasure,” he smiled back, offering a half bow in response.

So very like Amber in that regard. She wondered where they met. Not surprisingly, Amber had made friends with the other guys pretty quickly, after her of course, but Ren was a fairly recent addition. It almost felt like they had known each other before though. “So. Any plans for the evening?” she asked, trying to be polite.

Ren shook his head. “Nothing special. Probably just hanging out or relaxing,” he promised with a fluid shrug.

“Must be nice,” she laughed, glancing down at the composition book as she worried about work on the morrow.

“Most days,” he conceded easily enough.

“Okay! Ready to go?” Amber interrupted them, coming through the doors energetically and promptly guiding Sunyoung away.

“Later, Amber,” Ren waved as he started walking off.

“See ya, Ren,” she called back.

“Bye!” Sunyoung threw in, a little surprised by their speed of departure. “Is there a fire somewhere?” she asked, looking up at the taller woman.

“Nah. Just gotta make sure the other guys don’t catch up. They will talk your ear off,” she chuckled, moving to flag down another taxi.

“We can just walk,” Sunyoung offered, pulling Amber’s hand down. “It’s not that far. And it wouldn’t hurt you to walk off some of that burger,” she teased, looking at the slightly obvious food baby hiding under her shirt.

“Yeah…” her companion agreed in amusement, stifling a laugh. Side by side, they started meandering back, shoulders and arms nearly brushing but not quite. “So. Work tomorrow?”

“Yeah. You?”

“Eh. The usual.”

“Which is…?” Sunyoung pried just a bit, still curious.

“Errands and chores and probably a nap,” she grinned back playfully.

It was a deflection again. She never did give a straight answer about that. Normally, it was fine, but every now and then, Sunyoung got curious. More so than usual. Like now. But pressing the issue didn’t work either. “One of these days, I’m just gonna have to follow you to find out,” she taunted, sticking her tongue out at the taller woman.

“You’re welcome to try,” Amber promised with a shrug and apparently nothing to hide.

“Hopeless,” Sunyoung rolled her eyes, glancing ahead to where she could see her apartment complex.

“Only sometimes.”

“Yeah well. This is me so… I’ll see you soon?” she asked, pausing in front of the complex.

“Of course. You couldn’t keep me away,” Amber winked, reaching out to pet Sunyoung’s head once. “Get some sleep, alright?”

“You too,” she replied, keeping her hands clasped in front of her. Part of her wanted to reach out and touch Amber but the other didn’t know how to make that happen without it being weird so she just… didn’t. “Okay. Good night!” she chirped, waving energetically before she turned around to hurry into her building. In the safety of her enclosed space, she sighed. “One of these days, you’re gonna have to do better than ‘you too,’” she reminded herself with an eye roll. “One of these days.”


	2. Missing

As predicted, work was indeed rough the next day. It promised to be more of the same too, with mandatory overtime because someone had called out at the last minute and their office had deadlines to meet. It gave Sunyoung no time to think about much of anything else. Not her lack of time. Not her music. Not what she thought she saw with Amber. By the time the weekend rolled around to Saturday night, the evening before her other day off – damn she hated split weekends, she was exhausted and burnt out. Turning her phone off, she ordered a pizza from her laptop, took a shower after, and passed out.

She probably would have slept longer too, if someone hadn’t come knocking on her apartment door. “Huh?!” she gasped, confused at first. The strange banging noise slipped from her dreams into reality and Sunyoung pried open tired eyes. Groaning at the light of day streaming in through her window, she peered over at the clock beside her bed. Today, anywhere near ten was too early for house calls. But the knocking didn’t stop and as she stared at the numbers flicker to the next digit, she sighed. “Alright…” she mumbled, rolling out of bed with awkward grace. “Better be important,” she added, shuffling towards the door as she scratched at messy hair. Without even peeking through the peephole, she opened the front door. “Yes?”

“Oh,” a very surprised Ren murmured, hand raised as if to knock again. His eyes did a quick once over of her and for a moment, he didn’t seem to know how to respond.

It took longer than Sunyoung would have cared to admit, but eventually her sleep fogged mind registered the fact that she had answered the door in her sleeping wear: essentially panties and a really thin shirt… “Crap!” she yelped, closing the door and rushing for her bath towel as her cheeks flushed hotly. Of all the people to see her like that. An almost literal Mr. Perfect compared to her looking like someone living under a bridge. Still embarrassed but mostly covered now, she tried the door again. “Hi, Ren,” she forced a smile, her voice unnaturally high.

“Sorry for waking you,” he apologized with a shrug, face wrinkled to echo his sentiment.

“Eh. I needed to get up anyway. Probably,” she waved his concern off, shaking her head. “What’s up? You never come by,” she added, thinking it mildly strange. For a second, her heartbeat sped up and she briefly wondered if he was here for something special. She quashed the thought as soon as it came though. So stupid.

Ren hummed uncertainly as he looked over Sunyoung’s shoulder. Then he bit his lip and frowned slightly. “It’s probably nothing but have you seen Amber? I haven’t been able to get up with her in the past couple days. Thought she might be with you or something,” he added nonchalantly.

Caught off guard by the question and the assumption, Sunyoung automatically shook her head. “No. Last I saw her was at the burger restaurant earlier this week. I’ve been so busy recently.”

“Have you heard from her at all?” he tried again, expression still slightly concerned.

“Sorry. No. Now that you mention it, that is a little strange. I hadn’t even realized I hadn’t heard from her,” she admitted, feeling rather guilty about that. Damn her work. “Is everything alright? Is there anything I can do to help?” Worry rose up quickly and Sunyoung felt compelled to try.

But Ren shook his head and smiled, the gesture a little tenser than usual. “Like I said, I’m sure it’s probably nothing. She might have had something come up is all.”

Normally, Sunyoung would agree with that, but Amber didn’t have anything to come up with. No official job, no family in the area, no extravagant hobbies or travel tendencies. No car either. And half the time, no phone either. Seriously. The woman lost hers on a semi-regular basis. “Want me to let you know if she shows up? I can keep an eye out for her,” she offered, right hand gesturing freely.

“I’d appreciate that,” Ren nodded, the feeling genuine this time.

“Sure,” she promised, stepping forward to place a reassuring hand on his upper arm.

“Sorry again for bothering you,” he apologized once more, reaching up to smooth her messy hair down.

She winced and wrinkled her nose. “Yeah. A little more warning next time might be nice,” she laughed, reflexively combing at her hair herself.

“Understood,” he winked, giving a half bow. “Have a good day, Sunyoung. Don’t work too hard,” he warned her, one finger wagging in front of her face as he raised a brow at her.

“Good advice,” she agreed, snorting softly and stepping back to start closing the door. “You have a good day too. And good luck finding Amber!”

Ren nodded and waved in mute response before he left, leaving Sunyoung to her troubled thoughts. Curious now, she retrieved her phone and turned it on, checking to see if she _had _heard anything from Amber but had just missed them. It was possible but not really likely.

Nope.

Nothing.

“Hmm…” Well now she was worried. No. Not really that. Just concerned. Amber was a big girl and knew well enough how to take care of herself. Mostly. First time they’d met notwithstanding. The memory brought an amused smile to her face. While she rummaged around in the fridge for breakfast, she replayed that memory. She’d been walking along, on her way to the park on one of her days off. The weather was warm, much like it was now.

Eh. Cereal and a banana seemed alright. She wanted coffee too but that would be too much work. Taking a seat, she resumed her thoughts. It really felt as if Amber had appeared almost out of nowhere. One moment, she’d been walking along, music blaring in her ears and not a care in the world. The next, this… person stumbled full into her, knocking them both to the ground.

Sunyoung laughed once and rolled her eyes, covering her mouth when she accidentally spit a bit of food out. “Helluva way to meet.” Amber hadn’t changed much since that day, but at the time, the only thing Sunyoung knew was that the man… woman? That had been confusing. Was hurt. Not bad, mind you, but her face had been bruised and she’d twisted her ankle somewhere along the way.

‘Oh my god! Are you okay?’ she’d said at the time, panic flooding her. Really, it was just good that no one else had been there. Well, the odd street pedestrian didn’t really count. She didn’t know what she would have done if the person that had hurt Amber had actually been around.

She pushed the mostly empty bowl away and started nibbling on her banana. ‘You should see the other guy.’ Humor, even then. It was such a part of her. She finished the piece of fruit as she went over the next part. She’d wanted to go the hospital to get her checked out, but Amber had been adamant about not. Something about ‘insurance’ and ‘it’d be fine.’ She also said she didn’t like hospitals and Sunyoung couldn’t blame her for that. They were helpful when they needed to be, but they were places of life _and_ death and they often freaked her out. Plus they smelled weird.

“Ugh. I need a shower,” she grumbled. Having taken one last night, it didn’t feel like it this morning and she was more than ready for something to help clear her head. But her thoughts kept mulling over the memory of their first meeting. Somehow, Amber had convinced her to stick around. Maybe it was because she played the pitiful patient quite well. She hadn’t had any other plans and really, Amber had just looked so… lost at the time. Together, she’d helped the taller woman to the nearest drugstore for pain killers and something to wrap her ankle.

And after, Amber had offered to buy her lunch. Or dinner by that point. That was honestly probably where her entirely unexpected crush had started. Amber was charming, even when bruised and in pain. She was funny. She could make you literally forget about the world outside as she regaled you with stories, especially with how she’d gotten hurt in the first place. Something about winning a fight and then getting jumped later after the fact.

She’d asked her how she got away and all Amber would say was that she’d given them the slip. That much was obviously true, but Sunyoung had wanted more details. Unfortunately, Amber hadn’t been keen to give them. That was the other side of the coin. Though charming, Amber could hedge with the best of them. If she didn’t want you to know something, she had countless distraction techniques she could use. And had on various occasions. But…

Stepping out of the shower to grab a towel and look at herself in the foggy mirror, Sunyoung sighed, “You’ve _never _gone so many days without some sort of contact.” Staring at her reflection through the hand wiped space, she recalled how, since they’d first met, Amber had consistently either messaged her or seen her at least once every day or every other day. For over a year. Frowning, she tapped on her reflection’s forehead and then stuck her tongue out, making a weird face.

Frustrated, she stepped back and scrubbed her face with both hands. “Fine! I’ll go look for her,” she grumbled, plodding back to her room for suitable change of clothes. Really, if Amber could find her by searching her usual haunts, she should be able to do the same. Especially if she’d lost her phone again. She sent a message to Amber just in case and hoped she’d get a response soon. If not… well, time would tell.

So… where did Amber usually hang out? Her apartment was the first place Sunyoung checked. Not surprisingly, there was no answer in the small hallway. It was a single room, not unlike something you’d find in New York. Tiny, but per Amber, quite affordable. She didn’t spend much time there anyway. She liked coffee but not coffee shops so there wasn’t much point in going to those places. Same thing with arcades. She loved gaming but didn’t like the crowds. The skate park was a good bet though. Unfortunately, it showed neither hide nor hair of the… absent young woman. Sunyoung wasn’t quite ready to say she was missing yet.

The park gave no clues either. Or any of the smaller, darker restaurants they sometimes visited. She liked quiet, somewhat closed off places. Bookstore? Nope. Music store! No… Pet store…? Nothing. “Where are you?” Sunyoung wondered, chewing her bottom lip as she checked her phone to see if there was a response. There wasn’t. Didn’t even look like Amber had seen the message either. Strange.

On a whim, she called their closer friends, just to see. From the sound of it, neither Aron, nor Jackson, nor Wonshik had seen much of her lately either. They also mentioned Ren had checked with them and wondered if everything was okay. “I’m sure it’s fine. We just haven’t heard from her in a bit and wanted to touch base is all,” she’d promised them. It wasn’t a lie, but she was beginning to feel it wasn’t exactly the whole truth either.

They all said they’d keep an eye out for her too and let her or Ren know if they came across anything. With her day being less than successful, Sunyoung decided to call it. She had no desire to cook so she grabbed some Chinese on the way home and flopped down on her couch in the living room. The TV brought no solace and hardly a distraction worth her time. At least the food was good.

She checked her phone again and was disappointed when there was still no response. Slightly irritated and worried now, she sent another message and then tossed her phone away. But it skidded out of reach and she eyed it from afar. “Dammit,” she grumbled, crawling over the space to retrieve it and bring it close again. She tried to work on her music as a way to distract her from the growing worry, but that failed utterly too.

What ifs came and started circling around in her head. Really, an entire composition of ‘What if’ was going to do no one any good. Eventually, she gave up and resigned herself to just finish the crappy movie on the TV and then call it a night. Okay, it wasn’t _that _bad but it would have been infinitely better if Amber had been there to make fun of the “monster” with her. Yawning tiredly, Sunyoung turned the TV off and got up, ready to turn in. But she paused when it felt almost as if someone was watching her. Looking around, she didn’t see anyone, but most of the lights were off.

“Hello?” she called out, feeling silly in the next moment when she turned the overhead lights on. Nope. No one here. But she still felt it… Biting her bottom lip, Sunyoung wandered through the apartment, making sure she was well and truly alone. Literally, the only other person she ended up seeing was her own reflection in a mirror or faintly in glass. Stopping, she walked backward until she could see herself in the bathroom mirror again. She leaned forward just enough to not see herself anymore and then went back quickly, watching her reflection mirror her perfectly. It defied logic but for some reason, she had the weirdest thought that her reflection was looking at her. Really, that was true, but like more than usual.

“Are you watching me?” she teased, sauntering towards the mirror and then laughing at the absurdity of it. “Oh, I must be going crazy. Paranoid much?” Sunyoung reminded herself with a light smack on her head. Walking out of the mirror, she whined, “Amber! Respond so I can ask you about where you’ve been and your weird reflection!” As she left, she didn’t notice the way her reflection seemed to break sync at the last second.

Sunyoung slept well enough, which was good because Monday was also crazy. But that was largely due to the fact they now had to get ready for their new quarter and that required a great deal more work as well. Tuesday was a day off which she spent very much like her Sunday. She got up with Ren and checked with the guys to see if they’d heard anything. They all sort of wondered if maybe they should go to the police or something, but strangely, Ren was quite against that idea.

“You know Amber hates the police. Okay. Maybe not hate, but she doesn’t think they’re that good at their jobs, you know?” he clarified over the phone. Unlike Amber, he was much better about keeping his phone in a usable condition and on his person.

“I know,” Sunyoung responded, well aware of that conversation. “But what if she’s actually in trouble and needs some kind of help?” she couldn’t help but shrug.

“No. I hear you,” he conceded with a sigh. “But look. I’ve got an idea, though it might take me a bit to sort out. So if you don’t hear from soon, that’s why. Just for now, keep doing what you’re doing. We can go to the police as a last resort. Okay?”

Sunyoung sighed, long and heavy. “Okay,” she eventually agreed, not liking it.

The usual haunts were empty again and while she did head back to her apartment to try and compose, she felt strangely on edge. It really did seem as if someone was watching her. The sensation made her flee the apartment and head back to the park. Nothing but freedom and fresh air there. While inspiration still refused to come to her, the sun was inviting enough for her to lay down in the grass and just rest for a little bit. “Oh!” she gasped, sitting up as a ridiculous epiphany occurred to her. “What if Amber’s in trouble with the police and that’s why Ren says we shouldn’t call them?” But that didn’t make too much sense in the end, even if it was at least a little plausible. She still didn’t know who Amber had gotten into a fight with when they first met and it wasn’t impossible it was law enforcement…

“Ugh. That’s stupid,” Sunyoung told herself, trying to find some other rational explanation. None came to her though. Go figure. And as the sun started to set even more, her lighting went with it. And no, she wasn’t going to stay in the park by herself after dark. That was asking for trouble. Every woman knew that. But her apartment made her feel strangely edgy too, and Sunyoung didn’t like it. Weirdly enough, she could have sworn it felt the strongest near mirrors. Closing the bathroom door helped though. And avoiding her full body mirror in her room did too. She turned it towards the wall instead.

“Strange…” she exhaled with a shake of her head.

As weird as she was starting to feel about everything, her work week didn’t exactly leave her much time to think about it. She didn’t hear from Amber. Or Ren for that matter. Though Jackson, Aron, and Wonshik all sent her text messages at least, on Wednesday or Thursday. Friday was set to be another normal, busy day and it certainly started that way.

A quick breakfast and coffee on the run were all Sunyoung managed before she had reports to fill out or file and so many calls to make. Not to mention the staff meetings about last quarter and then more staff meetings about how to do better this quarter. And it was just so much… She finally took a late break right around three for food and a desperately needed bathroom trip.

While it was madness in the office, at least the restroom was quiet. So quiet in fact that it was more than easy to hear the soft footsteps in the shared space. That wouldn’t be a problem except, ladies were required to wear heels of some kind and the shoes she heard were most definitely not those. “Hello?” she called out uncertainly, drawing her skirt up defensively.

“Sunyoung? Is that you?” the mystery person asked in a strangely familiar voice.

“Amber?” she yelped in surprise, leaning down enough to see the expected sneakers obvious under the stall. She gasped when Amber squatted down to peer under the stall herself. Immediately, she pulled her knees together and grimaced. “What are you doing here?! And where have you been?!” she demanded, definitely weirded out and alarmed.

“It’s a little complicated, but bear with me. They’re watching you,” Amber stated simply, her hands gesturing as if there was nothing she could do about that.

“What? Go away so I can… finish,” she grumbled, flustered and annoyed and at a point where she didn’t know what to think.

“Okay, but don’t come out yet,” she urged, one hand reaching up to hold onto the top of the door. “I’ve blocked the main door so no one should bother us but there’s a lot I need to say and not much time.”

“Now you’re starting to sound crazy,” Sunyoung hissed, finishing her business and standing up as fast as possible. She unlocked the door but Amber wouldn’t let her out. “Oh, come on!”

“I know this is weird, but trust me. It’s better if you don’t come out just yet. They _are _watching you. They’re looking for me, but they know you’re my friend and so they’re trying to use you to find me,” she explained quickly, her hand staying on the top of the door.

“They? Who’s ‘they’?” she asked in confusion. “And why are they watching me and looking for you?!”

She heard a heavy sigh on the other side of the door. “This is gonna sound crazy but remember when we first met?”

“Yeah. Kind of hard to forget an injured woman appearing out of nowhere and running into you. And refusing to go to the hospital,” she muttered, crossing her arms over her chest.

Amber laughed softly and Sunyoung could imagine her nodding along. “I told you then I gave some people the slip, yeah?” she asked, waiting for Sunyoung’s response. She managed a small sound of agreement. “Well, they found me. More or less. Or at least they’re trying to. Through you.”

“I don’t understand,” Sunyoung admitted, lost.

“I know. I must have gotten careless or they guessed or managed to connect the dots, but regardless, you’re in danger. Or you will be soon. I think,” she added uncertainly, fingers white on Sunyoung’s side of the door. “Ren found me and has been helping me gather information.”

“He found you?”

“Yeah, and this is the important part,” Amber insisted. “I’m gonna need you to trust me right now. You can think I’m crazy or that I’ve lost my mind or whatever, but I need you to trust me. Okay?”

Sunyoung was quiet for a moment. This _was _crazy. There was no getting around that. Amber was in the bathroom at her work after having been missing with no contact for days and now she was spouting nonsense about people watching her and her own life being in danger and yeah… it was crazy. But did she trust Amber? Ugh…

“Okay. I trust you.” She didn’t know why right now, but Amber had never given her reason not to. Except for recently. Before that though, nothing.

“Yeah?”

“Yes.”

“Good,” Amber sighed in relief, her swallow audible. They both jumped when they heard a knock on the door though as someone else was trying to get in. “Great…” she grumbled, the tone strangely amusing to Sunyoung. “It’ll take them a minute to get a key. So listen up. I’m gonna let you out now, but you have to pretend that I’m not here.”

“What?” Sunyoung asked in genuine confusion.

“Just pretend like I’m not here. Go to the sink. Wash your hands. Look in the mirror like you usually do. Act… natural,” she suggested with a laugh.

“Seriously?”

“Trust me,” Amber added again, her tone pleading.

“Fine…” Sunyoung sighed. This really was crazy. They were going to have a long talk after this. For sure.

Slowly, Amber’s fingers let go of the door and it started to swing inward. Shaking her hands out, she stepped around it and cast a quick glance at Amber. She was completely like her usual self. No suspect bruises or anything amiss, but she did immediately point at the mirror. Right. Like _normal_. “Ugh,” she sighed, knowing that was something she actually would do at this point. “It has been a long week.” That was true and also something she’d say, but it was directed at Amber as well. It really had been a long week, and this stunt wasn’t helping anything. Sunyoung looked up and saw her reflection. But she also saw Amber getting ready to apparently punch her. Or the mirror. It was hard to say. “Yah!” she yelped, stepping back reactively.

“Ow!” Amber yelped after a soft thud sounded as opposed to shattering glass.

Surprised, Sunyoung looked up and then jerked again. Waving her hand in front of the mirror, she felt her heart thud against her chest. Where was her reflection? Looking at Amber, she flinched again. Where was _her _reflection?! Pointing between Amber and the mirror and where she was supposed to be, Sunyoung gasped, “Did you punch my reflection?”

“Yes. Now come on,” she urged, reaching out to grab Sunyoung’s hand as she crawled on the sink counter.

“What are you doing?!” Sunyoung hissed, flinching when she heard someone back at the main door. It sounded like they had the keys.

“Trust me!” Amber encouraged once more, holding tight to Sunyoung’s hand.

“You have lost your mind!” she hissed, reluctantly sitting on the sink counter so she could follow the other woman. She was not prepared when Amber actually started moving _through_ the mirror though. “What the…?” she trailed off, reaching with her free hand to paw at the surface. It went right through the glass and she whined in horrified concern.

Amber flinched as the bathroom door started to open. “Time to go. Sorry about this,” she winced.

“About what?” Sunyoung asked in a strained, tiny voice.

“This,” Amber answered, falling through the mirror and yanking Sunyoung with her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little tension, a little suspense, and eventually, the start of the adventure. heh Comedy isn't usually my forte but I like doing comedic moments, especially like the bathroom scene. And lines that at least strike me as funny. I really wanted to have the question - Did you punch my reflection? XD Overall, I'm content with how things are playing out and I hope that you are enjoying the story so far. We'll start getting into the meat of the project in the next update so please look forward to it! Thank you!


	3. Mirror World

On a list of impossible things Sunyoung could have thought up, literally falling through a mirror would have been quite near the top of it. Never mind that she’d just seen Amber actually punch her reflection, another impossibility she couldn’t have envisioned. “What happened?” she asked in a frantic whisper, seeing the unconscious body of… a distorted version of herself nearby. Oh that was creepy. “Where are we?” she added just as quickly as rising panic made her look around at the surrounding space. She got the impression of metal walls before a silent and standing Amber drew her attention more. “Amber!” she hissed again, finally moving to stand up, but freezing when she noticed one of her coworkers looking at them. “Shit!” she gasped, rolling forward to hide out of sight.

For a second, she wondered why Amber hadn’t moved either, so she looked up to ask and froze again, her eyes going wide in her face. Amber wasn’t Amber. Or at least her face certainly wasn’t. Neither was the portion of her body visible through the mirror. Her pants and shoes hadn’t changed though and she was moving funny, leaning forward and gesturing at her face like she was checking her makeup and hair. No, Sunyoung saw one of her coworkers. The same coworker she’d seen on the other side of the… mirror. Mirror! Still more than confused, she eyed the Amber-not-Amber and got up enough to peek over the top of the half wall to see. Yep. That was Yoona… touching up her makeup and hair. But she didn’t seem to see Sunyoung.

“Yoona?” she called out quietly, raising her hand and waving as if to get her attention. Nothing happened so Sunyoung stood up and leaned closer, face wrinkled in concentration. She moved to touch the mirror as Yoona turned to walk away into one of the stalls.

“Don’t!” Amber hissed, catching her hand to stop her.

Sunyoung squeaked in surprised panic, seeing Amber’s face again, worry etched into the familiar features. “What’s going on?” she whined, feeling she was either going crazy or this was just some weird work addled dream.

“Just wait,” she urged, becoming the Yoona-Amber version for a moment as the Yoona on the other side glanced in the mirror before shutting the stall door.

“What are you?” Sunyoung couldn’t help but ask. This wasn’t normal. No human could do what Amber was doing. And they certainly shouldn’t be able to punch reflections and go through mirrors.

Amber gestured for her to wait, pulling her attention from the mirror for a second as she looked at the fallen person nearby. “Damn. Sorry Nojam.” Sunyoung had no idea what she was talking about because the person… thing… was finally not looking like her anymore but he… she… it… didn’t look particularly human or recognizable either. She wanted to ask more, but Amber stopped and turned back to the mirror, immediately shifting into the Yoona lookalike again to… mirror Yoona as before.

Speechless and still feeling like she was crazy, Sunyoung pointed at the Nojam person and then to Amber and then to Yoona before coming back to herself. A very crazy idea was starting to form in her mind but it only made her feel more certifiably insane. Just to be sure, she pinched herself hard and jerked when it hurt but didn’t change where she was. It felt like she was in some kind of limbo, waiting to find out just how screwed she was, as she watched Yoona-Amber literally mirror Sunyoung’s coworker. It continued until Yoona finally walked out, with Amber doing the same until her counterpart wasn’t looking at her anymore.

“Sorry about that,” Amber laughed with a sigh, threading fingers through her blonde hair. “Come on. We’ve gotta move,” she added, reaching her hand for Sunyoung to take, her face noticeably tense and nervous.

“Not until you tell me what’s going on,” Sunyoung stated, shaking her head and gesturing around at everything that really didn’t make sense.

Amber swallowed noisily and nodded. “I promise I’ll explain but we can’t stay here. It’s a mirror into a ladies bathroom during normal work hours. More people will come and Nojam will wake up,” she added emphatically, finger pointing at the unconscious figure. “Not to mention someone will know I was here. We need to get somewhere safe.”

“We’re inside a mirror! How is this safe?!” Sunyoung scowled, afraid and frustrated and confused.

Holding her hands up in an open and calming motion, Amber murmured, “Sunyoung. Do you trust me?”

In that moment, Sunyoung hated that question. Before, the answer would have been an immediate yes. Now… she wasn’t so sure. “Maybe,” she answered reluctantly, her voice quiet and uncertain. “It’s just…” she waved around, her voice threatening to break as he throat grew tight.

“I get it. It’s a lot. I know,” Amber nodded, taking a small step closer. “And I will explain everything to you, but just trust me a little bit longer for now. You,” she gestured to all of Sunyoung with her hands, “are not safe. Out there or right here. Granted, I’m not either,” she added almost as an afterthought, “but I need to keep you safe and to do that, we have to move. Now,” she added, the last word almost desperate.

Looking between the mirror and Amber, Sunyoung eventually flailed in place, frustrated and overwhelmed. But she did take a breath and sigh, “Fine.”

Amber’s relief was palpable. “Okay,” she breathed, stepping closer again. “I’m gonna change now but it’ll still be me. Believe me.”

“What-” Sunyoung started to ask before Amber’s features literally began to change in front of her, shifting into something a little harder with stronger more… masculine lines. Blonde hair turned black and spiked up, the sides shortening until they appeared shaved. Her eyes went from coffee to a disconcerting green and her clothes morphed from the casual t-shirt and jeans she wore to a tank top, black pants and some pretty amazing tattoos down one arm. “Wake up,” she told herself, slapping her own cheeks hard enough to sting.

“You’re not crazy,” the new Amber said, stepping close enough to grab Sunyoung’s shoulders in her hands. “I promise. But here, I’m Llama and you are…” she paused, looking over Sunyoung’s person quickly, searching for something. “Luna,” she finished, noticing the crescent moon earrings she’d worn today. “Not the best outfit for this place, but maybe they’ll just think you’re trying something new,” she shrugged, taking her limp hand and tugging her after.

Sunyoung looked over her shoulder at the mirror and the still unknown Nojam on the ground and wondered what in the hell she’d gotten into. Nothing made sense and even what she thought she knew went out the window entirely as Amber approached the wall as if she was going to walk into it. Then she did and it opened just enough to give them a portal to step through. Sunyoung stifled her surprised yelp and stared into the dark space, offering slight resistance but only just. Eventually, she just shook her head and shrugged, following along in a dazed stupor. What was one more insane thing to add to the pile? Granted, she didn’t really mind when Amber pulled her close in the dark space, the feeling gratifyingly normal – almost like they were curled up watching a movie on her couch. But that was the only comfort she had. Otherwise, it felt like they were moving but she knew they had stopped walking. Maybe an elevator? Or an escalator? Or one of those human conveyor belts like there were in the airports.

“You’re doing fine,” Amber reassured her, one hand resting comfortably against Sunyoung’s back and the other still holding her hand. “Get ready now. We’re almost there.”

“Where?” Sunyoung asked by rote, the question not really requiring conscious thought.

“Metropolis Three,” she answered, squaring her shoulders before she stepped forward and pulled Sunyoung into what she could only describe as a bustling futuristic city.

Wide eyed and mouth partially open, until Amber closed it for her as they walked, she thought it resembled somewhere like Tokyo or Seoul or New York or something, but more science fictiony. People were everywhere and shining buildings rose up tall, blocking out most of the sky. Surrounding the entire area was a giant ring which they’d just come from. Frowning behind her, it looked like the ring was floating… and there were hundreds of thousands of sets of lights literally covering the surface. It looked like a strange switchboard or something of the like. Like her and Amber, people were coming and going but they rode on capsule like platforms.

As unsettling as that was, the heart of the city wasn’t much better. Once they got to a place where she could see it anyway. Not unlike the outer ring, the city itself seemed to exist on a huge platform that surrounded a very large purple crystalline structure that appeared to be floating in the air. It was below the city so Sunyoung couldn’t really be sure, but she knew the castle-like establishment above it was floating. “Holy hell…” she breathed.

“Just keep walking,” Amber soothed, her hand an ever present anchor in an otherwise turbulent sea. “We’re heading to a friend. They’ll help us for the time being,” she murmured, keeping her voice low and her expression unchanged.

It didn’t really help Sunyoung calm down or feel like she was okay. Everything felt familiar but off, unsettling in a way she didn’t care for. The people were no consolation either. Ranging from too perfect to be human to downright alien and unrecognizable, it was hard not to stare at everyone. And the noise… It sounded like dozens of different languages crammed together in the same space but everyone seemed to understand one another.

She was doubly confused when someone nearby called out, “Llama?”

“Shit.” Amber’s immediate response was not encouraging. She stopped walking to turn them towards the speaker, a fake smile plastered on her face. “Angel!” she greeted, hesitating for a second as she seemed to confirm… him?

“Yeah,” the newcomer grinned back, brushing at long brunette locks. Sunyoung got a good look at his face and it wasn’t difficult to see why he might have the moniker “Angel.” This person certainly looked more like the too perfect to be human ones she’d seen walking around and it made Sunyoung feel very conflicted. “I hadn’t heard you were back in town,” he wondered, obviously glad to see her but wary.

“No, no,” Amber waved dismissively. “I’m just running through is all. Can’t stay in one place too long, you know?” she laughed, forcing cheer where Sunyoung could tell there wasn’t any.

“Ah,” Angel nodded, glancing around surreptitiously. “I probably shouldn’t keep you then. Or stick around much myself,” he winced, seeming genuinely upset by that realization.

“That’s probably a good idea,” Amber nodded regretfully. “Sorry.”

He shrugged but then seemed to notice Amber wasn’t alone. Pointing at Sunyoung with a perplexed expression, he asked, “Who’s this?”

Amber wrinkled her nose and mumbled, “Angel…”

“Seriously though. You’re… you know,” he gestured faintly, keeping the spectacle to a minimum. “And you’ve got someone new with you. Now you’ve gotten me curious regardless.”

“So stupid,” Amber laughed once and licked her lips. “This is Luna. She’s a… friend from M-2. Hadn’t really heard about my situation but was looking for me so… you know how it goes.”

“Man,” Angel laughed and shook his head. “Nothing but trouble. It’s nice to meet you Luna,” he greeted, offering his hand for her. “Sorry you got caught up in this mess.”

“Yeah. Me too,” Sunyoung agreed with a hesitant glance at Amber. The nod reassured her a little bit, even if she still felt way out of her depth.

“Alright. It was good to see you, Llama. But seriously. Be careful. If I can recognize you…” he trailed off with a wave, looking around nervously.

“I know. Thanks, Angel,” Amber responded, giving him a quick wave before pulling Sunyoung after her once more.

“Angel?” Sunyoung couldn’t help but ask.

“Shh,” Amber whispered instead, not looking back but one hand gesturing for silence.

That didn’t sound good. Nerves made Sunyoung’s stomach feel heavy and she looked down, focusing on her feet and the ground, which also looked strangely shiny. She had to wonder if it was metal or something else. But she could feel Amber’s tension. It was like there was an energy in the air and the hand holding hers was strangely tight.

“Damn,” her companion hissed before suddenly changing course and abruptly trapping Sunyoung against a wall; at least it felt like a wall. “Sorry,” Amber whispered, head ducked close, hiding her face behind her extended left arm.

It reminded her stupidly of a movie, where the lead would be going in for a kiss right about now, and Sunyoung felt her stomach do a backflip as she could only stare up in surprise at Amber’s almost too close face. Her green eyes were mesmerizing at this distance and she was reminded, once again, by just how attractive Amber was. “It’s okay,” she whispered in response, biting her bottom lip as she tried to not freak out. Their hands were still loosely clasped and despite everything, it was strangely hard to breathe just then.

“It’s a patrol,” Amber explained, lifting her head just enough to glance over her arm, breaking the apparent spell over Sunyoung. “They know I’m here, but it’ll take them a moment to lock onto me. Come on,” she urged, seemingly blissfully immune to the sensations washing over Sunyoung. Confidently, Amber pulled away and drew the shorter woman close, tucking her hand into the crook of an arm. “I doubt they’re looking for two of us. I hope,” she added with a downward glance at the still dumbstruck Sunyoung.

“Sure,” she shrugged, not sure what else she should say.

Amber laughed once, apparently realizing a little bit about how her companion felt. “We’re almost out of the city. Trust me just a bit longer,” she urged, conjuring a reassuring smile and giving Sunyoung’s hand a comforting pat.

“Lead on,” Sunyoung waved with her free hand. What else could happen at this point?

Gratefully, they managed to thread their way past the inner ring and work towards somewhere in the middle without any other mishaps. There was some sort of conveyor system in place that was taking people below the city and that was where they went. Like the first capsule, they were pressed close in this one. Unlike the previous ride, she could see outside now. Sunyoung gasped as they descended, seeing the true size and majesty of the purple crystal. It was floating and every now and then, lavender bolts of lightning jumped up to strike the underside of the city. More than that, below the metropolis was a vast expanse of… land. It looked strangely like an older, more untouched Earth, all things considered. There just weren’t any oceans in her immediate view, though the trees they were heading towards appeared bigger than normal.

What looked like a station rose up from directly beneath them. A shining tower accepted their capsule and whisked the outside world out of sight. Landing, she was greeted to what had to be some sort of transfer station. “This way,” Amber urged, pulling her along and towards a platform that led to what looked like a forest. And something moving… “Don’t be scared,” she whispered before they walked confidently through the gates, acknowledged by the two maybe guards nearby but otherwise left alone. They looked like everyone else but seemed stationed at their posts.

Sunyoung wasn’t sure why she might be scared until they got to the end of the platform and saw what really was moving outside. She whimpered slightly and held just a bit tighter. “What-”

“Forest strider,” Amber supplied, glancing down worriedly once. “Please don’t scream.”

“I won’t,” Sunyoung squeaked, fearing her voice wouldn’t come at all. The forest strider she was talking about looked like something out of a monster movie. Or a nightmare. It resembled a giant centipede but there were cars on its back as it pulled up, slight vibrations in the ground stilling when it stopped. A platform extended to the thing’s back, people got off in a steady stream, and then she was moving forward with Amber to get on it. “Oh boy,” she exhaled with a nervous laugh, looking down just enough to see they were probably close to a hundred meters up.

Amber’s hand laid atop hers, providing mute reassurance as they stepped into a car that resembled a train from the metro. Nothing quite so metallic and train like, but there were seats and holds and even connectors between the “cars.” When they started moving, it felt almost exactly like a train too. For a giant insect monster, it was a remarkably smooth ride. Gentle swaying motions rocked the passengers while the steady drum of dozens of legs hummed outside. They moved swiftly but stopped and started at relatively slow speeds while passengers got on and off. She didn’t know how people were telling what place was what though. There were no announcements and no signs…

“This one is us,” Amber murmured, getting up to draw them towards the doors.

Yeah. Sunyoung had no clue. But she was happy to be moving again. And wishing they could stop somewhere they could talk because she was even more lost than before. Less panicky because after a point, there was nothing else left to feel, but so lost. And she really just wanted answers because these people looked more normal or even old fashioned? No. Archaic. That was more accurate. There weren’t as many beautiful faces the further they went and when they stopped, Amber made a beeline for a much smaller transport. They had to take a floating platform down to the ground level, where Sunyoung saw something that more resembled the middle ages. Carriages. Maybe. With horses? No. Not quite. Unicorns? Well, one was. Something else looked like a giant chicken or maybe an ostrich, but bright yellow. Like from a video game?

They took the chicken cart, a small box with comfortable enough seats and a driver atop, and bounced along in mutual silence until they arrived. “We’re here.”

“Finally,” she couldn’t help but sigh, swallowing hard as she waited for the door to open.

When they stepped out, Sunyoung felt almost exactly as if she’d been transported to an old world drama or something. The place was basically a village. Slightly more modernized but there were no paved roads and plenty of random animals roaming around and the people wore clothes someone from the fourteen or fifteen hundreds would wear. Looking at Amber, Sunyoung flinched to see she was also wearing something like it. Off white linen shirt and sturdy trousers complete with a brown leather vest and leather boots. Like actual old fashioned leather boots.

“This way,” Amber urged, using her body to mostly hide Sunyoung from sight. They skirted around the outer edge and then ducked into an alleyway that led to a small collection of houses. Amber stopped in front of one and knocked, the sound similar to a pattern Sunyoung had heard before. Shave and a haircut? Yep. There were the final two knocks from inside.

The door opened and she saw, “Ren?”

“Quickly. Inside,” he waved, drawing the pair in before closing the door with a sigh of relief.

“Thanks,” Amber exhaled, finally letting Sunyoung’s hand go so she could lean forward and take a deep breath.

“Glad you made it. Was getting worried,” he admitted with a frown and glancing between them.

“There were a couple hiccups along the way,” she laughed once, rolling her eyes and then nodding towards Sunyoung. “Bit of a double edged sword walking around with a human,” she admitted, giving her companion a warm smile.

“I can imagine. Heard they caught scent of you too,” Ren frowned, face shifting as if he was listening for something.

“Yeah. Had to mirror someone after I got back. Nojam was mirroring Sunyoung and I had to knock her out, but someone else was coming in behind us and yeah… It was not my finest moment,” Amber admitted with a shrug.

“Damn. Poor Nojam. And you. That’s bad luck,” Ren cringed, looking at the still silent Sunyoung. “You okay?” he asked sympathetically, taking a step closer.

Sunyoung was more than ready to say yes, even if it was a lie. But she saw Amber’s changed face and figure and Ren’s changed face and figure – pretty similar to the changes Amber had made – and saw the inside of the house that was familiar and not and… everything literally just became too much. “No,” she nodded with one finger raised in the air. She started blinking hard as a peculiar ringing sound echoed in her ears.

“Sunyoung?” Amber asked, shifting closer and placing a supportive hand against her lower back.

Reactively, Sunyoung wanted to shrug it off, but she only managed to say, “I think I’m going to pass out now.” A half second later, her prediction became a reality when her world spun and she willingly followed that downward spiral.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a reason for the strange names here and I'll explain in the next chapter but for now, know that Nojam is Jyeongyeon from TWICE and Angel is Jeonghan from SEVENTEEN. I'll be doing a fair bit of explaining in the next chapter, for Luna as well as you guys, but I had fun pulling the world together. heh Kind of a fantasy/sci-fi blend. Huzzah! Anyway, thank you for reading and I hope you look forward to the next update!


	4. Answers at Last

A part of Sunyoung was really hoping that when she woke up again, she would find that everything she’d experienced had been a really weird dream. Nothing more and nothing less and she could go back to being her overworked and not wholly satisfied self. A much smaller part of her she desperately wanted to squash hoped it was real.

“Oh look. I think she’s coming around.”

That was a familiar voice. Sunyoung wasn’t aware enough to tell if it was Amber or Ren though, so she stayed put, comfortable in the temporary limbo of uncertainty. Was it all a dream or was it reality?

“Sunyoung?” A gentle touch on her shoulder let her know for sure that was Amber.

Taking a small breath, she bit her lip and steeled herself to confirm which part of her was going to win. Okay. The wall in front of her wasn’t particularly telling, but when she rolled over… damn. The small part won. “Oh…” she exhaled, focusing on Amber’s face, so glad that it was back to normal. Whatever that meant anymore.

“Hey. You okay?” Amber smiled, brushing her fingers against Sunyoung’s forehead as she moved errant bangs out of the way.

Sunyoung declined to answer. She did enjoy the attention she was getting but… there was too much she didn’t know. And Amber promised her answers. With that in mind, she labored to sit up, glancing at Ren uncertainly. He looked like his original self too. Well, the one she knew him as anyway. Taking her time, and well aware they were watching her, Sunyoung looked around the room. The panic of everything happening at once had faded and she was back in a state of almost surreal calm. This was real. She didn’t know what was happening. And nothing made sense, but for the moment, everything felt… acceptable.

She put her feet on the ground and realized her shoes were missing. Searching the floor, she saw them at the door and shrugged. Really, for all intents and purposes, the inside of this home looked like an old fashioned hut. It was quaint and surprisingly comfortable, if old fashioned. Taking a deep breath, she smoothed her hair back and finally worked up the resolve to ask and listen appropriately. “So, you guys are… not human?” she turned her statement into a question.

“Right,” Amber confirmed, taking a cross legged seat on the floor in front of her. “I imagine you’d call us something like mirror people, if you knew we existed,” she explained, shrugging at the name with a bemused smirk.

“We call ourselves imagos,” Ren supplied, comfortably seated on a wooden chair at the table across the room. “Well, originally, we called you guys imagos but eventually the name stopped fitting and we switched it to apply to us. After all, we play the reflection,” he explained, one hand gesturing as if it couldn’t be helped.

“Yeah. About that…” Sunyoung started, licking her lips. She opened her mouth to ask something but didn’t even know how to approach it. “What…? How…? Why…?” she tried various times and then sighed with a groan, gesturing both hands at them.

“It’s kind of a long story,” Amber started to say. At Sunyoung’s slight glare, she held up her hands in surrender and laughed, “But I promised you answers and as long as we’ve got the time…” she looked at Ren.

He tilted his head and looked up as if he was listening for something. Satisfied, he nodded. “No sign of them yet. Should be good for at least a little bit,” he confirmed, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Okay. So let’s see if I can at least give a shorter version,” Amber murmured, rubbing her hands together and shifting where she sat. “So, right now, you’re in a parallel dimension to your world. As you might expect, we’re connected through things like mirrors. A long time ago, it wasn’t a problem. The only way you guys could get over here would have been through water that was basically a mirror. And people don’t usually fall into those.”

Sunyoung raised her hand and asked, “But how are we connected at all?”

“Magic,” she answered, as if that was obvious. Sunyoung frowned with a perplexed look, though it shifted a bit when she thought about it. “You saw the crystal right? In Metropolis Three?”

“Yeah. I just figured science had a hand in that,” she admitted, choosing to ignore the unicorn she’d seen earlier. Among other things that her personal knowledge of science would have a very hard time explaining as well.

“You’ve got it backwards. Miras has magic. Our magic helped us create and shape technology, which we mostly got from you guys,” she explained. “Your society developed one way and ours developed another, shadowing you of a sort. But when you started to create mirrors, we began to have an influx-”

“Invasion,” Ren interjected dryly.

“Problem,” Amber finished with a grumble, glaring at her friend. “At first, people fell through on accident and then as word started to spread, more began to try out of curiosity. Then your people started to get worried about what we might do and they started to send attack forces against our people.”

“It was a bit more complicated than that but that’s pretty much what ended up happening,” Ren threw in from his side, pretending he didn’t say anything when he got another glare from Amber. Sunyoung couldn’t help but laugh just a little at the pair. They might not have been human but they certainly acted like it.

“We started to retaliate but as you probably noticed, we don’t have reflections in your world. Or at all really. Probably because mirrors are just doorways for us, but also because we literally don’t need them. We can change at will to whatever we want. On the other hand, you’ve always had reflections because that is the nature of your world. But when we sent people over, it was too easy for them to notice us if they knew what to look for. I’m pretty sure we started a couple of the vampire rumors in the older days. And doppelgangers for that matter,” she laughed, amused by the possibility. “We’d pick a person to look like and go over, but if that person or their friends or family ran into us, it was a deception we couldn’t really maintain.”

“So the Royals decided to make a change,” Ren explained with a fluid gesture.

“Royals?” Sunyoung asked. “Like Kings and Queens and such?”

“Yep. They’re the only ones that can really use the Crystals. Effectively,” she clarified with an uncertain gesture. “And they’re where the magic comes from. They were much smaller back then too, by the way. But anyway,” she waved, drawing the story back to the main point. “The Royals wove a spell. Of a sort. Magic here isn’t quite like what you’d see in something like Harry Potter or some of your other magic movies.”

“Oh?” Sunyoung prompted, quite curious now.

“Yeah. It’s not even really words so much as intent or strength of will, but there’s always a pretty large price. Depending on the magic you’re working. Little things… not so much. World changing things. Sometimes death,” she explained with a cringe.

“Wow,” her human companion murmured, blinking in surprise. “That doesn’t sound so good.”

“Nope. So you might see why they wouldn’t be so eager to throw the baby out with the bathwater,” she laughed.

“What does that even mean?” Ren asked in real confusion.

“You haven’t heard that in the Earth dimension yet?” Amber blinked in surprise.

“No.”

“Oh. It means-”

“Amber,” Sunyoung called, trying to draw the conversation back to what she needed to know right now.

“Oh. Sorry. I’ll tell you later, Ren,” she promised, settling back into her original narrative. “So the Royals didn’t want to completely shut the world out because we _had_ learned quite a bit from you. But we just wanted you to stop coming over. Since we’ve always had the ability to take on the appearance of others, it became easy to tie our very nature into being able to become literal reflections to keep your kind out. We could still cross over freely, if we wanted, but it worked. More or less,” she amended hesitantly.

Ren laughed and nodded in slow agreement. “The problem came when you _kept_ making mirrors. The original few were easy. And small ones didn’t matter. It wasn’t as if you could come through anyway. But every new mirror created a new doorway all across our world. It became increasingly difficult to keep tabs on them. Many a human had previously crossed over and just gotten lost or died at some point.”

“Some of your unsolved missing persons cases are definitely instances of humans coming to Miras and not being able or not wanting to go back,” Amber explained honestly. There wasn’t a shred of conspiracy evident in her statement either.

That was not what Sunyoung expected. At all really. “So… how did Metropolis come about?” The floating city was something else for sure. And it seemed to be the answer they needed.

“One of our few pieces of ingenuity. A vision really,” Ren grinned, excited about that part. “You humans had nothing like it so we had to come up with a concept that would make it feasible to reach every new mirror and be sure an imago was close enough to block the path as it were.”

“Metropolis was our answer, though it’s been a work in progress for some time,” Ren added. “The first one was ground bound and only moderately effective.”

Sunyoung tried to process that and she started slowly, “So the outer ring in Metropolis Three has access to all the mirrors in my world?”

Both Ren and Amber snorted at that. “No. Only in three or four time zones,” Amber explained. “We can cover more than one person in a short period of time, but we don’t have enough people _here _to guard the entire world.”

“There are more Metropolis cities?” Sunyoung asked before she realized that was probably why Three had sounded strange in isolation.

“Yep. There are nine. This area only covers three time zones, just like two, because of the sheer number of people in places like India and China,” Ren explained with a shake of his head. “So many…”

“What about windows or reflective surfaces?” Sunyoung asked, leaning forward to rest her elbows on her knees. She was still a bit confused and a lot of it seemed crazy, but it at least made a weird sort of sense.

“Eh,” Amber scoffed. “They’re not the same. Your standard reflection applies. There’s no danger of crossing over there. The connection isn’t anywhere near strong enough. But we do have background programs – thank the advent of _your_ technology for that one – watching and processing with composite or rehashed imagery.”

“So who gets chosen to guard the mirrors?” Sunyoung wondered, raising her hand to tap her at bottom lip thoughtfully.

“Chosen?” Ren laughed.

“Oh Sunyoung,” Amber chuckled with a shake of her head. “No one’s chosen anymore. That resulted in a near on world wide revolt and the Royals were forced to compensate people for watching. Now we have the Metropolises. Everyone that lives in the cities helps with that. Some more than others. Every time you enter the outer ring, you are scanned and recognized. We might all have the ability to look like anybody, but on a genetic level, there are differences,” she explained.

“So imagos are free to work as much as they want and gain as much or as little pay as they want,” Ren snorted once.

“Which is why they’ll know I’m back because I had to mirror your friend,” Amber grimaced, chewing on her bottom lip at the memory.

“Coworker,” Sunyoung clarified. When she got curious looks from the two, she shrugged. “We’re not the best of friends. I think it’s the work environment. I’d probably like her outside of work actually,” she admitted. Stress made people do weird things. “Though speaking of mirrors, you punched my reflection,” she stated, pointing at Amber.

“Nojam,” she nodded in agreement, nose wrinkled in mild regret.

“Could I punch my reflection?” she wondered curiously.

Ren and Amber both laughed at the thought, but they also shook their heads. “Not unless you want to break the mirror. If an imago isn’t there, you’d swing _through_ the mirror. If an imago is, the barrier _holds_ and you break the mirror,” Amber explained deftly.

“Damn. There are some days,” she muttered, obtusely wishing she could. It made Ren and Amber chuckle. Then Sunyoung’s expression turned pensive and she looked between the two. “Okay. I’m still not entirely sure I understand everything. It’s a lot. But… imagos,” she murmured, pointing at them both. They waited patiently for her to continue. “How do you choose what to look like?” she asked, honestly curious.

Ren and Amber exchanged looks and shrugged. “We’re basically… composite images,” Amber started.

“Playing the reflection or watching your world, we get a lot of ideas about what we _can _look like,” Ren added on. “I mean, I could literally be Hugh Jackman if I wanted,” he grinned, turning into the considerably more grizzled appearance of a Wolverine Jackman. Sunyoung gasped and sat upright in complete surprise.

“Ren!” Amber snapped, waving her hand at him in irritation. He changed back immediately. “Though… he’s right. We can honestly be anyone. While I identify as more female and Ren identifies as more male, we could literally switch with no problem.” At a glance, they did just that. Amber became Ren and vice versa. Sunyoung’s eyes grew round and she inhaled sharply. “Or you for that matter.”

“Stop that!” Sunyoung yelped, throwing the pillow at them when she was faced with two exact replicas of her. Oh that was creepy.

“Sorry,” they cringed in quiet apology, reverting immediately.

“Ugh,” she shuddered, closing her eyes hard to try and banish the imagery. “So what do you _actually_ look like?” she wondered slowly, not entirely sure she wanted to know.

“Hmm…” Amber trailed off with a questioning look at Ren. “I guess, maybe like an unfinished dummy or a doll?” she offered uncertainly.

“That’s mildly insulting,” Ren laughed once.

“Well how would you describe us?” she countered, waiting.

“Eh…” he responded, frowning when nothing else came to mind. “Nothing we particularly like to run around as,” he explained instead.

“Can you change in my world?” Sunyoung wondered.

“Nope. What you see is what you get when you cross over. No magic in your world,” Amber murmured seriously. “At least not the kind that allows us to change anyway.”

“Right…” the human sighed, rubbing her hands together and placing her fingers against her lips. So everything was still quite crazy. Another dimension and magic were a far cry from logical, but again, they were making some kind of sense at least. Mostly. “So let me get this straight. There are two dimensions, connected by magic, through mirrors.”

“Yes,” the pair nodded in agreement.

“Imagos guard the mirrors to make sure humans can’t get through. They can also literally look like any human at any time,” she added.

“Correct.”

“And you chose these perfect,” embarrassment hit. “ly,” she added to try and salvage the situation. “Perfect.” Mental face palm. There went the salvage. Her flush deepened as they both seemed pleased and amused by the description. “Faces. On your own.”

“Yes,” they agreed while trying to hide their laughter.

“So what about your names,” she muttered quickly, trying to hide her face.

“Ah,” Amber hummed, apparently well aware of how odd hers sounded.

“We get a lot of… inspiration from your world,” Ren explained slowly. “Ren is a normal name here and there, if only because it sounds like a bird. The wren. I don’t like wrens, but I do like the name Ren. Not that I don’t like birds. I just…”

“It’s alright,” Amber laughed, waving at him. “On the other hand, a name like Llama wouldn’t work in your world. Here, it fits because I like llamas. And Nojam works because she says she falls apart when she tries to sing or play music so… she has no jams. It’s a lie, but we go along with it,” she added with a laugh.

“So Nojam is a friend?”

“Of sorts. We’re not enemies and we’ve definitely seen each other from time to time. I was just sad she was on duty for _your_ mirror today,” Amber confirmed. “Wouldn’t have minded punching someone like Shoe.”

“Yeah,” Ren nodded in confirmation, confusing Sunyoung when she thought Amber was joking. “He can be a real jerk sometimes,” he clarified, rolling his eyes.

“Ah.”

“Amber,” Ren called quietly, glancing towards the door with a concentrated look on his face. “We should probably think about moving again.”

“Right,” she groaned, glancing down at her person and then at Sunyoung. “Neither you nor I… nor you,” she added looking directly at Ren, “are going to be safe anytime soon.”

“I thought you said we were going to a safe place?” Sunyoung questioned, frowning in confusion.

“And it was when I said that,” Amber answered honestly. “But when we stay in one place too long, it gives the Royalty-”

“Their guards and search parties anyway,” Ren added.

“A chance to find us,” Amber finished with a disgruntled sigh as she stood up slowly.

“Why are they after me?” Sunyoung asked, taking that chance to get up too. Her legs felt stiff from being seated but she didn’t see Amber reacting so she chose not to either.

“Because they know you’re my friend and since my friends on this side are harder to track and pin down-”

“Especially because we can go through mirrors where they can’t easily find us.”

“They will go after you to try and force my hand.”

“But why are they after you? And how would having me force your hand?” Sunyoung wondered, curious about the first question and confused about the second.

“You…” Amber hesitated, pointing a finger a finger at Sunyoung without saying anything more about it. “Are my friend,” she finished lamely. “And that’s enough. For them anyway. Especially because I do spend a lot of time around you. As for why they’re after me…”

“She sort of almost got a Royal killed,” Ren explained quickly, moving to hide behind his chair when Amber rounded on him.

“Ren!”

“Amber?”

“It’s not like that,” Amber promised, holding both hands up to try and stall any other thoughts from cropping up.

“Uh huh,” Ren hummed, to her obvious annoyance.

“One of the Royals was being a dick to one of my… what you’d call cousins, and I sort of punched him,” Amber explained, her tone reluctant but her expression justified.

“That doesn’t sound so bad,” Sunyoung comforted, knowing there had to be some misunderstanding somewhere.

“Normally, no. Except… he sort of fell down the stairs after I punched him,” she added in frustration. “It wasn’t intentional,” she promised instantly, shaking her head.

“Just a helluva hit,” Ren confirmed with a nod. “And he was so not ready for it.”

Sunyoung understood that. Defending a friend from a dick made sense. But part of it didn’t. “Why were you near a Royal?” she asked, picking up on that detail rather quickly. It was kind of a big deal after all.

Amber laughed uncertainly and hummed first. “My cousin is a Royal so I’m… sort of a distant Royal…” she trailed off, face scrunched in distaste.

“Seriously?!” Sunyoung gasped, blinking in surprise. “You’re royalty?”

“Only technically,” Amber clarified as fast as possible. “And definitely not enough to protect me from an _actual_ Royal who seems to think I was out to kill him. And while corporal punishment might be a thing of the past for your world… not so much here,” she explained dramatically.

“Wait, wait, wait!” Sunyoung flailed, certain she had misheard. “Your government,” she questioned, not sure what they would call the ruling body, “would kill you for _accidentally_ almost killing another Royal?”

“Absolutely,” both Ren and Amber replied in unison.

“What? Why?!” Sunyoung demanded, confused again. That didn’t make sense.

Amber took a breath and answered quickly, “Because Royals are the only ones that can use magic effectively but doing so usually costs them time or their life so most people don’t want to be Royals and we have a very limited number so when one dies or comes close to dying, it’s a big deal.”

“Oh…” Sunyoung trailed off, feeling like she was still missing something here.

“But with that being said, we really do need to move,” Amber added, glancing at Ren apologetically.

“Yeah. I’ll see about getting a carriage,” he explained, ducking out quickly.

That left Sunyoung and Amber alone in the same space rather abruptly. Sunyoung wasn’t sure how she felt about that. Nor was she even remotely sure about what to say. Fortunately, Amber wasn’t so shy about it.

“So… how you holding up now that you know about all this?” she asked, gesturing towards the room at large.

Sunyoung hummed to herself and nodded. “I still think I’m kind of crazy or having a really weird dream, but… it also makes strange sort of sense,” she answered. “So alright I suppose. I mean, I never imagined any of this as being possible but some things just really catch you off guard. Like giant centipedes and unicorns and whatever that huge chicken was,” she added, laughing.

“Chocobo,” Amber grinned, nodding in agreement. “One of the Royals likes video games so he opted to create an actual chocobo on this side.”

“So all of those things are made?” Sunyoung asked to clarify.

“Yep. With magic. By Royals usually. We can do small things, which is part of how we’re all able to change at will but I could probably technically make like a house pet or possibly an outfit if I really tried,” Amber explained, though she hardly sounded confident about it.

“I see,” she responded softly, holding off on any further questions. She still had dozens of them that were bouncing around in her head, but she wanted to go over what she did know first. Adding more fuel to that fire wasn’t going to help at all. “You know… I was worried about you.”

Amber ducked her head. “Sorry about that. Didn’t mean to disappear on you,” she murmured.

“What happened?”

“Eh…” she trailed off hesitantly, not really looking at her companion. “I just had a feeling after our last get together,” she muttered. “At the burger joint and all. Needed to check things out to make sure I wasn’t missing something. When I got wind of what they were up to, it was damn near impossible to find a mirror to get me to you where people wouldn’t also see me. And not at your apartment. That would have been watched too closely,” she supplied before Sunyoung could ask.

Curious though, she had to ask. “What would they have done if they did get me?”

Amber’s grimace was hardly reassuring. “They’d have kept you prisoner for sure. Maybe threatened you to make me show up. Maybe killed you after a point,” she added darkly, not happy about the thought. “It’s hard to say what a Royal might do. They kind of have a lot of freedom to do what they want. The whole magic situation and whatnot,” she added, one hand motioning as if to help explain.

“Oh,” Sunyoung murmured, blinking in dumbfounded surprise. “So… um… would you have come if they did capture me?” she asked hesitantly, not entirely sure she wanted to know the answer.

Even worse, Amber didn’t respond immediately. A pained expression crossed her face while she looked at Sunyoung for a long moment. “I would have figured something out,” she admitted eventually.

“I see,” Sunyoung whispered with a slow nod. It wasn’t a yes exactly but it wasn’t a no and that gray area really didn’t make her feel that confident.

“Hey,” Amber soothed, reaching out to grab Sunyoung’s hands in hers. “You are very important to me. I assure you. It’s just not easy thinking about maybe being willing to die for someone. That’s all,” she tried to explain. “The Royals – and their parents – aren’t exactly know for being lenient,” she cringed, still holding to the shorter woman’s hands.

Logically, that made sense to Sunyoung. And as a friend, the ‘figuring something out’ response was perfectly acceptable. And she also knew it was incredibly stupid but part of her wanted to be worth dying for like in a cliché movie. Mental face palm. It certainly didn’t help that she’d had a crush on Amber pretty much since the moment they’d met. And that was also a tiny point of contention right now, because her face wasn’t really her face but she was _so _attractive. But more than that, she was just genuinely interesting. And Sunyoung gave herself another mental face palm.

“No I get it,” she reassured her friend, giving a squeeze back. “For what it’s worth, thank you. I’m glad you came to make sure I was okay,” she smiled, mentally stepping back but physically stepping forward so she could hug the taller woman.

Of course that was when Ren decided to come back and he stopped in the doorway with a surprised sound. “Oh. So we’re hugging now? I want a hug too,” he grumbled with a mild frown at the doorway.

“Ren!” both Amber and Sunyoung laughed. But then they waved him over and brought him into the fold.

“This is nice,” he nodded, his head resting on Amber’s while her head rested on Sunyoung’s and she rested her head against Amber’s shoulder. “Also, I got a unicorn carriage. Figured you might like that,” he grinned, directing his comment at Sunyoung.

“Really?” she grinned, looking up enough to break the circle.

“Really,” he confirmed, giving a little bow when Sunyoung did a tiny happy dance. “So what’s the plan then?” he wondered though, looking at Amber.

“Well. We should probably head into the forest more. They’ll have a harder time tracking us there. And hopefully it’ll give us more time to come up with a better plan,” Amber answered, a bit lost.

“You have no idea do you?” Ren asked in a deadpan tone.

“Not a clue,” she admitted just as quickly.

“If nothing else, we can think while we move,” Sunyoung offered, heading for the door to get them started.

“Hey!” her companions yelped as they rushed to follow.

She waited for them to lead because in part, she needed her shoes, but also because they knew how things worked here. And really, as far as her and Amber went, they honestly had bigger things to worry about than whatever kind of crush she was still nurturing for the other woman. With her life on the line and maybe Sunyoung’s too, whatever weird fairy tale romance or drama inspired absurdity she would normally probably scoff at (though secretly flail over) could wait for calmer times. Besides, she had an entire dimension to worry about. Seriously. A whole parallel dimension!

That should be enough to keep her distracted for quite some time…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there was a lot of information this chapter and I was hoping to answer the majority of the big questions. Feel free to ask any new ones you might have, though hopefully I'll be getting to those in due time. Regardless, thank you for reading and I hope you look forward to the next update!


	5. Captured

Up close, the unicorn looked just as magical as she would have expected. Pure white with a single golden horn – it honestly looked gold – and blue eyes, it would be impossible to mistake this creature for a mere horse. But really, once she was inside the cart, it felt like a normal horse would feel pulling the carriage. They didn’t fly or have anything magical happen. They were jostled around just as much as one might expect from an otherwise ordinary ride. But damn he… she… was beautiful to look at. Kind of like a certain someone nearby but also really, everyone here that wasn’t just outright strange.

If they were generally composite images, it was no wonder they looked uniquely attractive. And androgynous. It made her wonder what a Royal would look like. Everyone else or did they have a more unique or noticeable appearance? It stood to reason since they themselves were more capable of using magic. Frowning, she just decided to ask, “So why are Royals able to use magic more than the common imago?”

Amber and Ren both held their hands up to listen beyond the carriage at the mention of Royals. “You’ve gotta be careful who you say that around,” Amber murmured softly, still a bit tense.

“They’ve got ears everywhere,” Ren added with a nod in the direction of the driver.

“Ah…” Sunyoung trailed off, biting her lip to keep from saying more.

She wasn’t all that upset when Amber shifted closer though so she could speak in a lower voice. “Something to do with the bloodlines. I don’t know what, but there’s something in their history that sets them apart. Stronger in the way of magic. I have it a little bit,” she murmured, one eye winking and her thumb and index finger creating a tiny space between them.

“Whatever it is,” Sunyoung clarified.

“Yep. And Ren’s-”

“Your standard imago,” he shrugged with a soft laugh. “Nothing all that special about me other than being friends with someone who is at least indirectly connected to the Royals.”

“Huh,” Sunyoung chirped, chewing her bottom lip again. “What does it mean to use magic more effectively though? Like bigger magics or stronger or what?”

“Everything really. But the biggest difference is probably the control. On a small scale, I have decent control over making things. Larger projects are far more likely to go… wrong,” she explained with an uncomfortable expression.

“Like, lose control and destroy things or catastrophe wrong,” Ren further explained when Amber didn’t.

“Oh…” Sunyoung blinked, pursing her lips thoughtfully. That didn’t sound good.

“True Royals usually only have one great accomplishment during their lifespan,” Amber mentioned. “It’s their legacy if you will. Like the Metropolises or the forest striders. Large things like that often claim their life as payment. Smaller ones, like the unicorn and the chocobo, provide convenience and entertainment but aren’t particularly memorable. They might have been created by a half-blood Royal or someone like that.”

“So how do you actually use magic?” Sunyoung wondered, glancing between Amber and Ren with interest.

They shrugged in tandem and Amber answered, “It’s part of who we are. Little magics come directly from us and will usually make you tired. Larger magics, like what the Royals do, come from them but also the crystals.”

“Right!” Sunyoung chirped, one finger rising into the air. “Do they act sort of like batteries?”

Ren and Amber laughed at the comparison, but the former nodded. “That’s one way of describing it.”

“Yes,” Amber agreed, “but they also augment or strengthen the magic. It’s why the Metropolises are pretty much self-sustaining at this point. The crystals have absorbed or been given so much power over time that it’s sort of this symbiotic cycle. It keeps the city afloat. The people live there. Their natural magics help sustain what the crystal uses and the cycle continues.”

“Huh.” That was interesting to Sunyoung. Sounded pretty efficient but also a little scary. She wasn’t sure she liked the idea of… anything taking her energy. Even if it was for a good reason.

“Oh look,” Ren called suddenly, peering out of the carriage. “We’ve got guests,” he laughed once, waiting for the women to take a peek before he explained what he saw.

On cue, Sunyoung poked her head out and gasped in surprise when she noticed jumping and flying creatures keeping pace beside them. They were using the trees to move but it was no trouble for them. To her eyes, they looked like a cross between monkeys and squirrels. “Flying monkeys?” she wondered.

“Basically,” Ren laughed, his head swiveling to follow the dozen or so. “The official name is a mammalian airborne primate, but we just call them maps.”

“Okay,” Sunyoung laughed once, shaking her head at the moniker before watching them some more. They were very agile creatures and they did travel a bit like flying squirrels as well as monkeys in equal measure. They were strangely soothing to watch and she took a breath as she relaxed, under the spell of their natural movement patterns. She knew that Amber and Ren were discussing something inside, but this was nice too. Just being in the moment and not worrying about what might happen next. Though really… given the nature of the world, and the uncertainty of this moment, she figured it might be a good idea to start thinking about it.

She was just about to do so when the carriage started to slow down. Turning, she frowned first but then Amber waved a reassuring hand in her direction. “It’s okay. We’re just stopping to go on foot from here.”

“Where are we going?” she couldn’t help but wonder, though she did follow Amber and Ren out of the carriage.

“You’ll see,” Amber winked, offering her hand.

Sunyoung laughed once, sidestepped to give a parting pet to the unicorn, and then returned quickly. She accepted the hand and sighed, “That’s not much of an answer you know.”

“I know, but you will see,” she responded with a cheerful grin.

“You’ll probably like it, too,” Ren added with a bright smile. He pointed towards the trees on the right side and nodded once as if to indicate that was where they were supposed to be going.

It looked exactly the same as the rest of the forest had so far. Sunyoung didn’t know why this particular place was different, but that had been true of the stations on the forest strider as well. And in the Metropolis. Maybe it was just something about them being magic and the world itself being magic. And her not being magic was what made it so hard to see a difference. Either way, she had little choice in the matter. On her own, she’d just be lost and at least this way she was in good company.

“We can’t really go back to a Metropolis right now and most of the known mirrors are probably being watched pretty closely,” Amber explained without looking back. Her head swiveled constantly, as if she was listening or looking for something, but the steady contact of their clasped hands let Sunyoung know she was very much focused on her.

“Right now, we’re just trying to buy time. This kind of thing doesn’t really happen so… we’re not exactly sure how to fix the situation yet,” Ren admitted, glancing over his shoulder as he looked between the two women with some concern.

“How would you normally handle it?” Sunyoung asked, curious how she changed the dynamic.

“Well, if we had someone to vouch for us, we’d usually find a sponsor to back us and then approach the Royal Council to beg for leniency or a lesser punishment,” Amber explained, looking back with a shrug.

“But considering who Amber offended, it’s not likely we’ll find much of a sponsor,” Ren grimaced, the expression obvious from his tone.

“He’s that high up the food chain is he?” she wondered with a pained frown.

“That’s one way of putting it. More like his family is,” Amber sighed, clearly annoyed.

“So what are we trying to do now?” she had to ask, needing some kind of direction to all this.

“The main thing is finding a way to keep you safe for the moment,” Amber explained, nodding at Ren as he turned to agree. “If you’re safe, then we’ll have more freedom to move around and through your world as needed to escape.”

Well that didn’t make Sunyoung feel particularly helpful. She seemed to be more of a liability at the moment. “Sorry,” she apologized automatically, feeling guilty all of a sudden.

Amber and Ren paused to look back, confusion writ on their face. “It’s not your fault,” Ren explained quickly, taking a step closer to her as they stalled. “Honestly, it’s hers,” he added, pointing matter of factly at Amber.

“Yep,” she agreed without hesitation, though she did give Ren a bemused glare in response. “So don’t you dare try to take it away from me,” she snorted, focusing her attention back to Sunyoung with a pat on the head and another effortless wink.

Immediately, it had the intended effect and Sunyoung laughed once, ducking her head in embarrassment. “So maybe it is your fault, but I do still feel useless,” she admitted with a heavy sigh.

“Just because you can’t use the magic of our world doesn’t mean that’s a bad thing,” Ren promised with a shrug. “At least they can’t find you so easily by following your body signature.”

At Sunyoung’s confused look, Amber explained, “It’s how we keep track of everyone. Since we can all change what we look like, appearances are pretty much useless. But everyone has a different energy. Like DNA but less science based,” she laughed once and gestured with her free hand. “You don’t have one. At least not the kind they can follow so easily.”

“Ah,” Sunyoung nodded in understanding, falling silent as she mulled it over.

With uneasy glances around, Amber and Ren took her silence for understanding and opted to continue walking. Sunyoung was still curious about quite a few things but they could wait for the moment. Her more pressing concern was actually her feet. Her work shoes were fine for work, but they were terrible for traipsing around in the middle of nowhere outside.

Unfortunately, while her companions could move easily without any trouble, Sunyoung began to slow and she was forced to reluctantly take a break as her feet started to hurt. “Hold up a minute, please,” she asked, biting her bottom lip as she leaned into a nearby tree and shifted her feet, trying to assess what the damage was so far. As she’d figured from her first look, the trees in this forest were so very large and towered above them to dizzying heights when she looked up. Curious and distracted, she wondered aloud, “How tall are the trees here?”

Ren and Amber exchanged uncertain glances and shrugged. “We’ve never really thought to measure them. Maybe a hundred feet or more?” Amber wondered aloud, eyes trailing upward as if to measure for herself.

Sunyoung’s mouth twisted into an amused grin and she shook her head. “I knew that much.”

“I can’t remember if they grew from the ground up naturally or if one of the Royals made them grow so large,” Ren admitted with a frown, glancing around the various trunks and up to the overarching foliage.

“Probably both,” Amber supplied, kneeling near one. “In time, they probably would have gotten this big anyway, but I’d bet someone got impatient.”

“Sounds about right,” Ren agreed, glancing at Sunyoung. “There aren’t trees like this on your side, are there?”

Sunyoung frowned thoughtfully and then shook her head. “We have different trees, but no… none grow this large. That I know of anyway. Certainly not anywhere near me,” she laughed. Cities were not known for having remarkable trees anywhere. Since they had stopped for a moment longer than she thought they might, she reached to pull her left shoe off and rub at the sore spot on her heel. She was pretty sure it was going to turn into a blister…

“You alright?” Amber asked as she drew close, her face twisted in mild concern.

“Yeah,” Sunyoung answered, waving her off hurriedly. “My shoes are just stupid,” she added with a forced laugh.

“Ayah,” her companion grimaced, kneeling in front of her. “I should have remembered you weren’t wearing shoes for something like this.” She glanced at her own feet that had perfectly respectable sneakers and then frowned in concentration. “Here. Let me try something,” she encouraged, reaching both hands to touch at the plain but professional black dress shoes.

“Amber,” Ren warned worriedly, stepping closer.

“It’s just a little bit of magic,” she countered, raising one brow at him.

Sunyoung mildly cringed in concern as he added, “I know you know what you’re doing. I’m more worried about those who could detect it…”

“I’m sure we have time,” Amber promised flippantly, focusing her energy on changing Sunyoung’s shoes into a black version of her own – comfortable sneakers that would be much better in this terrain.

Immediately, Sunyoung felt the difference and she sighed in relief at the change. The feeling of magic happening directly against her skin was strange, but the effects were well worth it. “Thank you,” she beamed, gingerly putting the left shoe back on to see how it felt. Her heel was still a bit tender. She couldn’t do anything about that, but the rest of her foot felt fabulous.

“Anytime,” Amber winked, standing up and giving her shorter companion a gentle pat on the head once more. “Sorry again.”

“It’s fine. There was a lot going on recently,” Sunyoung promised with a reassuring smile. She saw some of the tension melt in her companion and that was enough for her.

“I’m glad there are no hard feelings, but if you’re done, we should really get moving again,” Ren reminded them, anxiously shifting from foot to foot several paces away.

“Right,” Amber nodded, glancing at the woman in front of her. “Ready?”

“Yep,” came the automatic reply.

“Okay. We’re almost there,” Amber promised, holding her hand out for Sunyoung to take it again if she wanted.

She took it gladly, laughing just a bit, “I’m still not sure why you won’t tell me where we’re going.”

“Just safer that way,” she answered with a shrug, glancing over her shoulder to offer a reassuring smile and then turning back as she started moving again.

“Royals like to have ears everywhere and if they did manage to hear where we were going, it’d be easier to set a trap. If they didn’t just want to try and capture us directly anyway,” Ren explained from the front, shrugging with a grimace as he looked back to speak. As he did though, his eyes went wide and he briefly froze.

Sunyoung yelped when Amber immediately yanked them to the side. Fear flooded her then as she felt something pass by them very quickly. Glancing over, she saw what appeared to be a net of some kind, covering the space they’d just been in. Looking back, her eyes widened too at the sight of hovering Imagos, dressed very distinctly in black clothes with silver trim. None of them looked happy.

“Damn hoverboards,” she heard Amber mutter as they took off running into the woods. Her head darted to the side as if looking for Ren but she remained silent otherwise.

There was nothing Sunyoung could do or say herself so she simply held tight and focused on not tripping. This would be the most inopportune time for her to lose her footing or something. And… she did, but it really wasn’t her fault this time. “Amber!” she cried out, literally falling forward when her back foot stalled. Amber’s hand slipped from hers and she hit the ground hard, almost losing her breath.

“Sunyoung!” she heard, even as she looked back to see one of the nets had caught her foot and pinned it in place. “No, you don’t!” Amber growled as hands slid under Sunyoung’s arms, pulling at her hard.

The net was firm and her foot ached from the pressure. Sunyoung whined at the pain but with Amber’s help, managed to kick free, losing her shoe in the process. “Ow!” she yelped, the pain in her foot briefly spiking before they both fell back to the ground, mildly entangled with each other.

At the same time, they scrambled to get up, arms and legs flailing. But it was too late. Stalled in place just long enough, another hoverboarding Imago swooped into view and fired on them, catching both in their net. “No!” they wailed in unison, pinned together as the edges of the net curled in and under them when they were lifted up.

“Let us go!” Sunyoung yelled, awkwardly trying to shift the net, a difficult task when it was plastered to her left side and her right was obviously digging into Amber’s torso.

As the ground moved away from them, Amber’s hands pressed against Sunyoung and the net at the same time. Her voice eased through the panic setting and she murmured, “Easy.” She didn’t look away from their captors, but her words were for Sunyoung alone. “Let them think they’ve won,” she encouraged, left hand pressing against the other woman’s back reassuringly.

Sunyoung sniffed and nodded once before falling still. Immediately, the tension in the net eased just a little bit and it was almost tolerable. “Do you have a plan?” she wondered quietly, peering through the netting to see if she could spot Ren.

“Sort of,” Amber laughed softly, the sound of her swallowing loud in Sunyoung’s ears. They had almost reached the canopy now.

“What are you gonna do?” she asked, craning her head to look up at the other woman. Her face was easy to see as she looked down at Sunyoung, the expression warm and a little sad. Even as she asked, she watched Amber begin to glow ever so lightly. Her hand on the net blazed brighter and, as they cleared the canopy and moved into the open air, she dragged it down, slicing through the bindings.

Sunyoung started to slip through the new opening and Amber caught her. “Be brave,” she smiled, leaning forward to kiss the corner of her mouth, the action accompanied by a small tingling sensation that flowed over her body. Briefly stunned and confused – had she meant to kiss her there? – she had little time to react before Amber actually pushed her out the already mending opening.

“Hey!” someone above shouted, the sound both alarmed and confused. She heard, “She’s gone!” before the canopy swallowed her once more, blocking the sky from sight. And then Sunyoung panicked as she fell, unable to stop her fall and completely disoriented. But the leaves were surprisingly steady as she crashed through them, and it was impossible to miss when she hit a branch. Even then, they seemed to give, letting her slide from their hard planes instead of bouncing off or smacking into them painfully.

None of that mattered though when she reached the end of her fall. It wasn’t the ground that reached up to greet her, but rather a messy assortment of sticks and fluff and chittering creatures that panicked when she landed in the midst of them. Head spinning, she clung to consciousness by the barest of threads and held very still as she waited for the world to slow down.

All too quickly, the alarmed creatures fell absolutely silent and Sunyoung felt a chill creep over her. A strange whispering sound entered her awareness and she dared to glance up, neck twisting painfully in the process. There, flying over her position and looking around intently was one of the hoverboard searchers. It was obvious they’d followed her and they should be able to see her, by all rights, but for some reason, they didn’t. Or if they did, they simply chose to ignore her, which made no sense at all.

She continued to hold still, praying that whatever was keeping her safe would continue to hold. She even stopped breathing for a few seconds as they slowly made their way down and then over her landing spot. This close, the searcher was particularly alarming as they had no standard face. Oh, they had eyes, but they were strange, alien. And there was a mouth, but it too seemed odd – more a line in an otherwise featureless visage. If their pallor had been gray, she would have thought them to be an alien in truth.

Her follower didn’t speak as they drifted away and down. They simply continued their slow, determined scan, moving past little by little as they worked their way below the canopy. Even when she was certain they wouldn’t be able to see her, Sunyoung was loathe to move. She still felt a strange sort of tingling over her and the chittering sounds were starting to pick up again. Looking around her temporary haven, she discovered she was nestled in the boule of one of the trees and it appeared to be a nest of… maps. The discovery made her laugh once and the creatures froze again, eyes darting about in confused alarm.

Could they not see her either? “Hello?” she called out softly, taking care to sit up slowly. Her words caused a general stir of panic once more and the creatures scampered around the area her voice had come from. She saw several looking in her direction but it was more like they were looking through her. Glancing at herself, Sunyoung saw everything was at it should have been, but for all intents and purposes, she appeared to be invisible to others… At least until she wasn’t.

All of a sudden, the tingling sensation disappeared and every head turned to focus on her. “Uh…” she trailed off, looking around at the dozen or so maps in her vicinity. Their ears flicked while tails twitched and though they didn’t look dangerous, Sunyoung didn’t know them well enough to understand if they were or not. There were just a lot of them of various sizes and colors in her immediate vicinity…

At an impasse, it seemed as if they might stay that way forever, but there was something hard and sharp digging into Sunyoung’s hip and she needed to move to check. As soon as she shifted, the maps darted off, clambering up the tree and otherwise hiding in the overhead canopy. Alarmed calls followed them but they were more plaintive than angry or aggressive. “Sorry,” she mumbled, rolling off one hip to reach under and grab at whatever was there. When she picked up something surprisingly smooth, she was even more astounded to see a piece of what looked like a crystal. “What the…?” she trailed off, holding the approximately golf ball sized gem in her palm.

That got a reaction out of one of the denizens as they half scampered down from their retreat and paused, staring at her. Its tail twitched and the little nose wriggled while it chirped at her, but it didn’t try anything else.

“I guess this is yours,” she murmured, glancing between the map and the crystal. She was half inclined to put it back – obviously the critter liked it, but… there was something about the gem as well. It almost felt alive. There was a kind of energy to it, and if she didn’t know better, it looked a lot like the crystal she’d seen powering the Metropolis. It just happened to be significantly smaller. “Sorry little guy,” she murmured, pocketing the trinket before she stood up and started to limp around.

The map followed her at a distance, while the other denizens rustled through the leaves, darting down and up to keep frequent eyes on her. Her position was otherwise precarious and still quite high up. Though the tree had caught her in a boule, the rest of the trunk extended a long ways down. And she had no rope or ladder or anything to help get down. And she was missing a shoe.

Well that was just great… The reality of her situation suddenly weighed down on her as everything that had just happened finally had a moment to catch up. Sunyoung was trapped in a tree in a parallel dimension while she had almost been kidnapped and one of her best friends _had_ been kidnapped and was probably going to be killed and she didn’t know what had happened to Ren and there was nothing she could do about any of it. Any one of those would have been bad enough by themselves. All of them together were just a little overwhelming and she felt hot tears well up.

“Ugh! Stop it!” she growled at herself, stomping her foot and wiping at her eyes with the back of her hand. “Crying won’t help you,” she reminded herself, and it helped but didn’t completely stem the tide of her emotions. The first thing she had to do, was figure out a way down. Then she could start worrying about what might or might not happen after that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Considering this is not supposed to be too long, things are happening a little quickly, though I at least had a bit of inspiration recently. I know mostly what's going to happen next and how I'm going to get there. Now I just have to put it down on paper. Thank you for being patient with me and here's to hoping the next update doesn't take so long to get out. Thank you!


	6. Magic

Okay. So the ground was probably an easy forty or fifty feet down. There was no ladder. No rope. No stairs. No nothing to help Sunyoung get down. Going up was also a useless idea. It would only take her further from where she needed to go and make her more obvious. The maps nearby were also of no assistance. They had effectively accepted her as a non-dangerous addition to the area but were leaving her alone for the most part, though the one was still following her closely.

“Think!” she told herself in frustration, beating her thighs with balled fists. Looking over her person, she had nothing that might help either. One shoe – with shoelaces – wasn’t going to accomplish much. Her skirt and blouse were less than useful for a great many things. And there was just… nothing! It wasn’t fair. How was she supposed to be brave, or anything else for that matter, when she was stuck?

The only thing she did have was the small crystal. With nothing better to do for the moment, she took it out of her blazer pocket and peered at it once more. It wasn’t like any gem she knew, though the color was similar to that of an amethyst. In her hand, it felt warm, and not just because it had been in her pocket. “What are you?” she had to wonder, running her fingertips over the irregular surface. “It would be nice if you were something actually useful. Like a rope or a ladder, you know…” she trailed off with a sigh, wishing she had either one right then.

Sunyoung froze when she heard a strange whispering sound nearby. Hoverboard? No. Too different. But then she felt a very slight vibration in the tree itself and something moved in her peripheral vision. Her eyes grew wide as she looked to see what appeared to be a rope growing out of the tree and slowly moving down the trunk. Slowly, she reached a hand up to smack her own cheek, just to make sure she wasn’t dreaming or seeing things. Nothing changed. The rope continued to grow.

“How in the world…?” she wondered, taking a tentative step towards it. Pausing, she glanced at the crystal in her hands and inhaled slightly when it seemed to be glowing with a faint light. “You?” she asked, peering at the gem in her palm and then glancing at magically appearing length. “No way…” she exhaled, walking to the rope and taking a breath before she commanded, “Stop.”

It did.

“Shit!” Sunyoung gasped, jumping back and practically flailing in place, one hand gripped very tightly around the crystal. When she took a peek, it was not glowing anymore. Edging back to the rope again, she knelt next to it and whispered, “Grow.”

It did.

Looking at the crystal once again, she saw that it had resumed glowing. “Oh my god,” she laughed once, touching the still growing rope tentatively. It felt exactly like she thought it would. “You _are_ a magic crystal,” she whispered, staring at the light purple gem in her hand. “But why am I able to use you?” she couldn’t help but wonder. No answer came to her. It was apparently something she was not meant to know or would have to figure out on her own. She wasn’t a Royal and she wasn’t an Imago so she had no clue but… for the moment, her dilemma had been solved. She had a way out of the tree.

With one eye on the rope to see when it would reach the bottom, she called for it to stop when it started coiling on the ground. Then, with a deep breath, fear in her belly, and the crystal back in her pocket, she carefully clambered over the side and started to slide down. Once more, she lamented her choice of clothing for the day…

Her feet back on the ground and rope burn in uncomfortable places, Sunyoung grimaced but turned around determinedly. One problem solved. Now on to the next one. Amber was gone and while Sunyoung wasn’t quite sure where she’d been taken, heading to a Metropolis was probably a good bet. On the other hand, she didn’t know about, “Ren! Ren! Are you here?!” she called as she started to walk away from the tree, keeping her eyes peeled and her head on a swivel.

The sound of her voice bouncing back to her from tree trunks was creepy to say the least. And there was no immediate answer from Ren either, which wasn’t entirely unexpected. Chances were just as good that he’d been captured as well, but it couldn’t hurt to check first. “Ren?!” Again, she listened to her fading voice in the woods and frowned. “Okay. Let’s try this,” she murmured, pulling the crystal out of her pocket. Envisioning more of what she wanted this time, Sunyoung whispered, “Help me find Ren.”

As hoped, a glowing arrow hovered into view and swung from side to side, like a compass. She held her breath as it slowly came to a stop, pointing firmly in one direction. She didn’t know what direction it was pointing in – it wasn’t an actual compass – but if that was where it said Ren was, that was where she’d go for now. The arrow floated along with her as she walked, staying in front and shifting minutely when it seemed as if her target may have been moving too.

To either side of her, the forest looked very much the same but also intimidating for that sameness. It would be so very easy to get lost here. And who knew what dangers lay hidden in the depths. Maps were well and good but what about things like the forest strider? Or other things she knew must exist but hadn’t seen. In fact, it was strange how few things she _had_ seen. Not that she was upset about there being no mosquitoes so far… It made her wonder what the ecosystem was like here. Additionally, it made her more curious about Imagos as a whole too. Did they eat here? Did they need food the way humans did? There was just so much she didn’t know. She wanted answers and she thought about trying to use the crystal, but then the arrow stopped.

“Huh?” Of course she stopped too and peered ahead at where it was pointing. “Ren?” she called out curiously, hoping he was close if the arrow was to be believed.

“Sunyoung?” came a hesitant and disbelieving whisper. Sunyoung’s eyes widened in surprise when she watched as what looked like a shadow peeled away from the tree. It blended in so well with the trunk, she never would have seen it if she’d just been walking along, which was probably the point. “What… How… What is that?” he finally asked as he took on the form she was most familiar with.

She ignored his questions first as she crossed the space between them and ran into him, hugging hard. “You’re okay!”

He coughed in surprise and then wrapped his arms around her in return, holding firm. “So are you. But how?” he asked, pushing her back just enough so she could look up and see his face.

Sunyoung sniffed and nodded once as she tried to collect her thoughts. She hadn’t really been sure this would work and now that it had, she didn’t know how to really explain everything. “We got caught but Amber cut the net and let me escape but then I got trapped in a tree. The hoverboard Imago couldn’t see me and I was invisible! But then I found this crystal and I think I used magic, but I don’t know how. How did I use magic if I’m not a Royal? But I found you! I don’t know how though. And what’s going on?” she rambled, fingers digging into Ren’s arms as she stepped back just enough to shift her grip.

For his part, Ren’s eyes were wide and stunned as he tried to make sense of what he’d been told. Taking a small breath and blinking quickly, he started, “First. I’m glad you’re okay. It couldn’t have been easy to escape like you did. Second…” he trailed off, glancing into the forest. “If they have Amber, they’ll be taking her to Metropolis 1. That’s where the Royal she offended’s family is.” His gaze swung back to her now, expression a bit worried. “Third… if you used magic, we have to get you to safety as fast as possible.”

“Huh?” she chirped in confusion, feeling as if he had just glossed over the most important thing. “No. We have to help Amber,” she stated firmly.

“We do,” Ren agreed, even as he took Sunyoung’s hand and started to pull her along. “But the Royals can tell when magic is being used. It’s probably part of how they found us to begin with. Stupid Amber,” he mumbled, but there was no real heat in his words.

“So why can I use magic?” Sunyoung asked as she let herself be dragged along, content to get answers as they moved. She wasn’t too keen on not being able to help though.

“I don’t know,” Ren admitted with an obvious cringe. “But it will make you a much bigger target than just being a friend of Amber’s right now,” he added quietly, looking around suspiciously as he moved.

“Can’t we just use magic to go get her back?” she wondered. It seemed too easy and it probably was but she didn’t see why it wouldn’t be possible since real magic was involved now. Perhaps.

“Maybe, but if it works at all like for us Imagos, that much magic would likely kill you,” he reminded her with a pained expression. “As much as I like the idea of being able to use magic to try and get her out, I don’t want you dying to do it. And Amber would literally kill me if I let you.”

Sunyoung expected him to laugh like it was a joke but his tone remained quite serious. “Oh,” she sighed instead, brow furrowed in thought. The idea of magic was so different in her world that she hadn’t even thought about the possibility of their being negative, much less fatal, consequences. Never mind they’d told her as much about the Imagos. It was just really frustrating. She actually had something she could do to help, but even then, it wasn’t enough. Or more likely it would be fatal and she wasn’t so sure she was ready to die either. “So what are we going to do then?” she asked, pulling on his arm just enough to make Ren slow down and actually look at her.

He bit his lip and took a slow breath. “I am getting you to safety. Back to your world if at all possible,” he explained with a nod in the direction they were heading. “It’s likely they won’t even realize you’re the one that used magic and I won’t say anything to enlighten them.”

“What about Amber?” she tried again, squeezing Ren’s hand hard in her worry.

“Let us worry about Amber,” he murmured, reaching his free hand to brush her bangs away from her face. “I promise she’ll give them as much trouble as she can in the meantime. She probably won’t be able to get out on her own but it should be able to buy us time to figure something out. She doesn’t have many friends in high places but she _does_ have many friends on this side,” he laughed as his head tilted to the side. “Knowing you’re safe will be one less thing for her to worry about.”

“But I want to help, Ren,” Sunyoung complained, brow furrowing further. “Sending me back while someone I care about is in very real very mortal danger just feels… wrong.”

“And that would make her very happy to hear, but the best place for you right now is still out of harm’s immediate way,” he stated firmly, tearing his attention away to focus on the surrounding area once more. “Come on. We’re almost there,” he added, tugging on her hand to get her moving again.

Sunyoung wanted to fight or argue or something… but she didn’t know what else she could say. She didn’t know enough about the penalties of using magic and she didn’t know what she might be capable of. Nor did she know what she would be up against. And if most Imagos couldn’t use magic and they would be going up against Imagos that could… the odds were certainly not in their favor. On the other hand, sooner than she thought, the woods suddenly opened up. She gasped in surprise and forgot to breathe as a golden ray of sunshine pierced the canopy to make the lake in the center of the clearing glow.

“We’re here,” Ren murmured softly, his voice unusually subdued as he walked them closer to the crystalline water.

Blinking mesmerized eyes, Sunyoung followed the literal beam of sun into the water and smiled as it created a spotlight for the denizens of the water to dance in. Fish flickered beneath the surface, silver bodies glinting like coins. The surface, however, was completely still. “It’s beautiful,” she whispered, looking at Ren who was watching her with a happy, thoughtful smile.

“I thought you might like it,” he responded quietly, pulling on her hand just a touch. “Over here,” he urged, nodding towards the edge of the water.

As they got closer, Sunyoung could see little water lilies lining the edge, bright white blossoms in full bloom. Cat tails rose up in sparse patches and long grass limned the entire lake in emerald green. At the water’s edge, the sun’s light wasn’t touching it directly. Leaning over, Sunyoung could perfectly see her reflection, but she frowned when Ren’s was missing. “What-?” she wondered, turning to look and flinching when she saw him right there.

“No reflection, remember?” he offered with a shrug and a bemused smile.

“Oh yeah,” she mused, biting on her lip. They had told her that, but hearing it and seeing it were two very different things. Sunyoung reached as if to touch the surface but Ren stopped her, catching her hand in his and making her look at him again.

“This is your way home,” he promised with a nod at the reflection.

“But I want to stay,” she denied, expression firm and mildly defiant.

“I know,” Ren admitted, smiling sadly. He hugged her close then, cradling her warmly. “I want you to stay too. And I know Amber does as well. But it’s not safe. For you or us,” he added, arms tightening just a touch more.

“Then let me help,” Sunyoung pleaded into his chest.

She had a brief moment of hope when Ren pulled away to hold her at arm’s length. His smile was promising, but he shook his head and whispered, “No.” Then he pushed her backwards and Sunyoung gasped, hands reaching for him reflexively.

“Ren!” she cried out as her view shifted. Ren and trees gave way to the canopy and the sky above. Then a flash of light nearly blinded her as she hit something and then kept falling with her eyes shut. “Ren!” she tried again, flailing until she another surface. “Ugh…” she coughed, cringing as pain wormed its way through her back and head. “Ow,” she whined, prying open her eyes to see where she had ended up. “Huh?!” she yelped in surprise to see her bedroom around her and the mirror directly in front of her. Her reflection stared back at her, showing nothing but surprise. “No!” Sunyoung yelped, scrambling to her feet as she approached the floor length mirror and tried to step through.

Reflective glass met her efforts and stopped her completely. “Move,” she growled at the Imago on the other side. Determinedly, she tried again, pushing against the glass pane. “Come on! Get out of the way!” she grumbled, shifting to try shouldering her way through or past the image. It didn’t work. “Seriously?!” Sunyoung fumed, stepping back and staring at her reflection angrily. “Ugh! This is not over yet,” she scowled, yanking the blanket off her bed and throwing it over the door to hide the surface. She needed to think again and it would help if she didn’t have a random Imago looking in on her…


	7. Calling Reinforcements

So, after a quick shower – with the bathroom mirror covered this time, and a more suitable set of clothes for moving around, Sunyoung was ready to try and figure things out again. She still had the piece of crystal from the other side, but after trying every possible way to get it to work, she was forced to conclude it simply didn’t on her side. Why, she didn’t know, but nothing she did activated it. Back to square one as a normal human.

Of course, after she had a moment to stop and just breathe, quite a few other things came to mind… None of them really mattered to her right now, because Amber was in danger and she had to figure out how to help her friend regardless, but it didn’t stop the world on this side from moving as it did everyday. Amber had pulled her out of the middle of her shift at work. All of her important things were there, including her purse and wallet and, more importantly, her phone. “So stupid,” she grumbled, lamenting the lack of any other phone in her apartment just then.

Oh, and it was also the next day. She’d been gone for over twenty four hours and was mildly surprised but also glad that no one had tried to report her missing or something. She didn’t think so anyway. There was no note on her door and no one stopped by to check on her – that she knew of, but she didn’t need her stuff right now. She needed to find a way to get back to the parallel world and fast.

“Let’s do this!” she stated determinedly, one hand balled into a fist as she stood in the middle of her living room in running pants and a t-shirt, hair up in a messy, damp pony-tail. Tearing through the apartment, she covered every other mirror and reflective surface she had and returned her attention to the floor length one in her bedroom.

First attempt. Push on the blanket to try and get through. Nope… Didn’t even budge. Maybe it was because there was no reflection at all? Just normal glass at that point.

Second attempt. Trying to sneak her hand under the blanket to push against the mirror. Damn. Even though she couldn’t see her reflection, it was still there.

Third attempt. She yanked the blanket off and tried to surprise her Imago by throwing herself at the surface. “Ow…” she groaned when the mirror caught her face. She wondered if her reflection felt that too and perversely hoped they did.

Fourth attempt. A sneak attempt from the side also proved futile when her reflection remained where it was, perfectly mirroring her every effort.

Fifth attempt. Try to enter from behind? “Of course not,” she muttered to herself, shaking her head as she placed the mirror against the door again. She knew it wouldn’t work but she had to try.

Sixth attempt. Maybe if she tried to knock herself out, it would knock the Imago out? A half-hearted attempt merely made her head hurt and she glared at herself in the mirror in irritation. “Idiot,” she grumbled at her reflection. It was another one she knew wouldn’t work – even if it did, she’d be unconscious too…

Seventh attempt. Lights off. Nope. She could still see her reflection. There was too much light coming in from her window and the doorway and everywhere… “Oh. Wait a minute,” she murmured thoughtfully, glancing around her room. She closed her door, shut her blinds and pulled the curtains closed and turned to regard herself in the mirror. “Nope. Not dark enough.” There was still ambient light sneaking in from under the door and around the curtains. They weren’t blackout quality so that would have to be fixed. But she had an idea!

Rushing to the kitchen, she rummaged around under the sink for her general repair and hardware stuff. She didn’t have much but her dad had made her take the basics: screwdriver, hammer, plyers and duct tape. Surprisingly, she did at least have some nails still hanging around from the last time he’d come over to fix something. “Ahah!” she crowed triumphantly when she found them. Supplies in hand, she returned to her bedroom and pulled her extra blankets out of her linen closet. Sheets weren’t quite thick enough.

She had to use her desk as a ladder, but she was able to hammer a blanket in place and then duct tape the edges to keep any additional light from coming in. Of course she had to do it twice – damn corner room – but that was okay. She had just enough nails and plenty of tape. Stepping back, she surveyed her handiwork and nodded in satisfaction. It only grew when she closed her door and turned off the lights and realized it was _almost _pitch black. A half-hearted attempt to go through the mirror proved useless, as she expected, but she had one more thing to do. She tried to cover the door with tape and a towel but decided she needed a flashlight first.

“Thank you dad,” she grinned when she retrieved it from under the sink as well. Halfway through putting tape up, she felt decidedly uncomfortable with her Imago still watching her so she covered the mirror with a sheet this time and then returned to her efforts. Much better. Finished at last, she pointed at the windows. “Check.” She traced a line around the door where the duct tape covered the slits around it. “Check.” A glance at the taped in place towel at the bottom also showed her messy but complete handiwork. “Check!” Looking over at the mirror, she grinned and took a breath.

A thrill of excitement washed over her as she hit the lights and was cast into total darkness. It was so like being in a cave that she almost felt a pressing need to turn the flashlight on. Fortunately, she needed to anyway to get to the mirror. Grasping the sheet in her fingertips with her other hand holding the flashlight, ready to turn it off, Sunyoung took a small breath and whispered, “Please let this work.”

Closing her eyes, she turned the flashlight off, took another breath, and then pulled the sheet off the mirror. When she opened her eyes, it felt like they were still closed but she knew she was directly in front of the mirror. With a trembling hand, she reached out slowly. Her eyes blinked quickly and she swallowed hard, biting on her bottom lip when she didn’t feel anything. Had she reached far enough? Should she turn on her light to check? No! That would ruin it, she was sure. Uncertain, Sunyoung moved her arm to the left and she inhaled sharply when her forearm hit something. Not her fingertips and not just air. “It worked…” she whispered, reaching further and brushing her arm against the mirror frame, just to make sure. She reached her other hand forward and did the same thing.

But it made her nervous having her hands sticking through into a different world when she couldn’t see them so she pulled them back and turned the lights back on. She flinched when her reflection actually seemed to be a bit late in responding to her. “Huh,” she chirped, nodding her head and filing it away for future reference. “Okay,” she smiled, patting the crystal in her pants pocket and nodding to herself. She had a way back in, but Ren hadn’t been wrong when he said she was just one person. Hell, even she figured she’d need some help. Fortunately, she knew a couple people that might be willing to buy into this madness without too many questions.

And at least one of them was relatively nearby. Wait. What time was it? 4:31. Okay. Yeah. He should be home from his classes at least. Sunyoung snagged her spare key from the kitchen drawer and grabbed a bit of cash from her emergency stash, just in case. Putting her own sneakers on, she flew down the stairs of her apartment complex. The third floor wasn’t that high but the elevator would be too slow and moving on her own at least made her feel like she was going faster.

Jogging into the streets, her world suddenly felt all too noisy and crowded. That was what she got for heading out in near five o’clock traffic – both pedestrian and vehicular. Of course the Metropolis was crowded, but the forest had been so quiet and this was just plain jarring. Steeling herself for the run, Sunyoung pushed all thoughts aside and just focused on getting to Jackson’s apartment as fast as she could. Wonshik lived on-campus in student housing and Aron was on the other side of town. And Jackson was one of the easier ones to approach as well. Wonshik was sometimes a bit much and Aron just looked scary sometimes. His smile made up for it, but sometimes he had a resting bitch face...

“Jackson!” she called, pounding on his door and completely out of breath by the time she reached his apartment. She needed to exercise more… “Jackson!” she tried again, mentally hoping that he was actually home and that she wouldn’t have to go and find one of the others right now. Someone down the hallway opened their door to peer at her and she cringed, mouthing ‘Sorry’ in their direction. The middle aged woman gave her a glare and then shook her head before moving back inside. “Jackson!” she gave it one more go in a quieter tone, nearly falling inside when he suddenly opened the door.

“Sunyoung?” he asked in bewildered confusion.

“Hi,” she laughed, still trying to catch her breath and giving him a quick wave.

He gave her a once over and frowned in mild concern. “You okay?”

“Yes and no,” she added quickly, standing up and then looking over his shoulder to make sure there was no mirror in the immediate vicinity. “I need your help.”

“Okay,” Jackson said uncertainly, blinking once with his confused frown still in place. “You could have just called.”

“My phone’s at work,” Sunyoung explained with a shrug.

He opened his mouth to say or ask something but stopped and just shook his head. “Maybe you better explain a bit more,” he offered, opening his door for her to come in.

Sunyoung took a step out of habit and then stopped when she caught sight of a reflective surface from one of his framed pictures. “Actually, I’d rather talk out here. Or better yet, we can talk at my place, but I need you to call Aron and Wonshik for me. Please?” she pleaded as cutely as she could, knowing she otherwise sounded batshit crazy.

“You sure you’re okay?” he asked, obviously debating what to do.

“Yes, I’m sure,” she answered immediately. “But Amber’s in trouble, and probably Ren too, and I’ve got nothing but a crazy story to tell and it would really be easier if I could just show you all but I really do need your help. Please, Jackson,” she pleaded, grabbing his hand in hers and meeting his eyes.

He jerked in surprise. “Amber and Ren are in trouble?”

“Yes.”

“That would explain why she didn’t answer me yesterday,” he mused, mind shifting gears as he started piecing together what was possible and not. “Okay. What kind of trouble? Did you call the police?” he started to ask before waving it off. “Never mind. Let me get my keys. Looks like you ran over here,” he snorted.

“I did,” she admitted with a heavy sigh and a nod, leaning over her knees again.

“Must be one helluva story,” he commented, stuffing his wallet in his back pocket as he put his shoes on and stepped into the hallway so he could lock the door behind him.

“You have no idea,” she laughed, patting her pocket to make sure she still had the crystal. Good. It was still there.

“Can’t wait to hear it,” he smiled, placing a hand on her upper back to start shepherding her out of the complex. On the way to his car, he called up both Wonshik and Aron, though the latter took a couple tries. He was sleeping before work, not surprisingly, but by the time they’d arrived at Sunyoung’s apartment, Jackson had convinced them to meet him there. The ‘Amber’s in trouble’ argument worked wonders and Sunyoung was mildly miffed she wasn’t enough but was just happy they were at least coming.

“Don’t freak out when we get inside,” she told Jackson as she led the way to her apartment.

“Why?” he asked warily, glancing down at her as if she was going crazy again.

“Lots of blankets and sheets and towels covering all the reflective surfaces?” she offered hesitantly with a cringe.

“Huh,” he chirped, still mulling over the crazy possibility. When Sunyoung opened the door and let him in, he gave another, “Huh. Okay.”

“I promise I can explain,” she urged, rushing into the kitchen to at least get him something to drink while they waited for the other two to arrive. It would be much easier if they were all together and though it made her look crazy, she felt much more secure in this place because there was little chance of Imagos listening in. Oh goodness, it was a good thing he couldn’t hear her thought process right now.

Jackson accepted the cup of water, though he continued to look around curiously. Every now and then, he would check his phone and nod, giving her an update when necessary. Wonshik was almost there. Aron would be about five more minutes. A knock on the door proved to be Wonshik with his usual, boisterous energy.

“Sunyoung- woah!” he stated when she opened the door, his eyes landing on her and then the room behind her. “You redecorating?” he wondered immediately, glancing at Jackson for confirmation before he stepped in when she left the door open for him.

“Not exactly,” she admitted, rushing to the kitchen to get him water as well, feeling entirely too self-conscious when she heard them whispering behind her. To be fair, she would have thought herself crazy too if she hadn’t experienced what she’d been through recently. Wonshik took the cup of water graciously enough and downed half of it in the first sip. Uncomfortably, they waited for Aron to arrive, who had a fairly similar reaction to Sunyoung’s choice of ‘decorations,’ but recovered just as quickly.

“So. What’s up?” Jackson asked first as the original point of contact and the one that had been sitting with all the weirdness the longest.

“Okay,” Sunyoung said as she stood in front of the three young men sitting on her couch. “Just remember, Amber’s in trouble and I need your help and this _is _going to sound crazy.”

“Got it,” Wonshik nodded emphatically, giving her a thumbs up for encouragement that felt completely forced. “Ow!” he yelped when Aron smacked him in the back of the head.

“Not helping,” he reminded the other man.

“I didn’t see you trying anything,” Jackson snorted once with a sidelong look.

Aron opened his mouth to respond, but Sunyoung stepped in, “Guys! Focus!” she clapped, taking the crystal out of her pocket and putting it on the table in front of her. “Amber is an Imago from the world on the other side of the mirror and she offended a Royal who is probably going to kill her unless we use this crystal to go rescue her.” Okay. That could have gone better… By the look of their faces, she knew that was probably the worst approach she could have given, but there it was.

“Imago?” “World on the other side of the mirror?” “Rescue Amber?” they all talked at the same time, very confused expressions on their faces.

“Yes!” Sunyoung stated firmly, running back to her room to grab her hammer. She snatched the crystal up and took it into her bathroom.

“What are you doing?” Wonshik asked, the first to follow her. She couldn’t tell if he was genuinely curious, worried or maybe afraid, but he was there at least. Shadowed quickly by Aron and Jackson if their shadows in the doorway were any indication.

“Breaking the crystal so we can all have a piece,” she grumbled determinedly, quite pleased with her moment of inspiration. She had no doubt that it would still work. The crystal was a conduit of sorts. As Amber and Ren had pointed out, the more you poured into it, the larger it got so, as long as they had a piece of a crystal, it should work. And she was going on a limb with them being able to use magic, but it was better than nothing. She was just assuming it would work for them, and that was assuming they would still come with her.

“Wait!” Aron started to say as she slammed the hammer on the crystal, breaking it into three pieces.

“Damn,” Sunyoung muttered, smacking at the largest chunk carefully. Fortunately, it broke without too much trouble.

“I hope that wasn’t expensive,” Jackson cringed, the expression obvious in his voice.

“I have no idea. I got it on the other side,” Sunyoung explained as she brushed away the smaller shards and then grabbed the four largest pieces. She stuffed one in her pocket and then reached to give one to each man. They took them reflexively as opposed to any willing desire to have one.

“I still don’t understand what’s going on,” Wonshik admitted with a worried look.

“I know. But we can use these to use magic in the other world. Are you coming or not?” she asked, staring at each person intently.

“Do you have a fever?” Aron wondered, stepping close to put the back of his hand against her forehead.

She smacked it away and scowled at him. “I do not and I’m not crazy, though I know it sounds that way. Either you guys can help me or not, but I’m going back. And if I die because you didn’t come, I’m coming back to haunt all of you,” she muttered as she pushed her way through them and stalked to her bedroom door. Sunyoung could feel their eyes on her back, watching closely. Their whispers made her want to hide for real. Truth was, she was afraid to go back alone and she really didn’t want to die. But damn it. If she had to go alone to try and save Amber, she would. Really… “You coming?” she asked with a trembling voice and the threat of tears if they said no.

They must have heard it in her voice or maybe they did see tears on her lashes, but Jackson was the first to move. He laughed once and rubbed the back of his head with his free hand. “Either you are legitimately crazy and we need to keep an eye on you right now, or you’re telling the truth and you still need our help. I’m in,” he shrugged, stepping ahead of the group, though he was quickly flanked by Wonshik and Aron.

“Me too!” they called in unison, glaring at each other and then glaring at Jackson for obviously stealing the spotlight.

Sunyoung’s knees went weak with relief and she laughed with a smile, tears appearing anyway. She wiped at them quickly and nodded once. “Okay. Just… trust me,” she murmured, swallowing hard as she opened her door and stepped inside. She could tell they were surprised by the setup again, but they kept their whispers to themselves. “All the way inside. I have to close the door,” she urged Aron who was bringing up the rear. They watched her press the tape back into place and then move the towel back in front of the door at the bottom.

“Seriously though. You’re either crazy or really telling the truth and I can’t tell which yet,” Jackson snorted, staring around the room and looking speculatively at the covered mirror.

“Yeah. I know,” she admitted, nodding her head and standing up with a satisfied exhale. She snagged her flashlight and then offered her hand to Wonshik who was the closest to her. He took it uncertainly. “I’m going to turn the light off but you guys should hold hands too,” she added, nodding to Jackson and Aron. “It’ll be easier to follow each other when we… go through the mirror,” she explained slowly with a shrug.

“Huh,” Wonshik laughed, extending his hand to Aron who took it and then took Jackson’s hand.

“Ready?” she asked, biting her bottom lip nervously as she looked at the men.

“I guess?” they offered hesitantly, shrugging in answer to her question.

“Okay!” she chirped, turning the light off so that they were cast into complete darkness.

“Holy shit, it’s dark!” Wonshik yelped, his voice easily recognizable.

“Yep,” Aron agreed and Sunyoung imagined Jackson to be nodding in agreement.

“Turning the flashlight on,” she warned as she started moving them to the mirror. “Okay,” she said as she paused, her fingertips on the sheet. “It has to be completely dark when I do this, otherwise the reflection keeps you out. Just… keep holding hands and follow me and… you’ll be fine,” she promised as brightly as she could. She just hoped she’d be right. “Oh. Be ready to run when we get inside,” she added as she turned the flashlight off.

“Huh?!” her three friends yelped as she yanked the sheet off and forged ahead, silently praying it would still work. She met no resistance and took a breath as she stepped into the mirror.

“What the…” she heard someone trail off as the line moved, pulling each person along. She didn’t hear them for very long before the weird twisting sensation of falling caught up to her and she knew they were on their way. “Hang on Amber. We’re coming,” she whispered as she took a breath and got ready to do… something when they landed.


	8. Making Plans

Slightly disoriented, like the first time, Sunyoung was still in a better position when she came through the mirror. Standing this time, she came to a stumbling halt as the three men tumbled through behind her, and looked ahead at the single formless imago staring at them in what was probably wide eyed surprise. It looked like they had been on the way out with one of the summoned platforms being nearby, but they were frozen now, much like Sunyoung.

Gripping the crystal hard in her hand, Sunyoung frowned and focused hard. She was just as surprised as anyone when the floor reluctantly pulled back, allowing them all to fall as if in slow motion. Her frown turned to surprise and a startled yelp escaped as her and her companions tumbled down, spinning head over heels in free fall. They passed through several layers of metal in a tunnel of sorts before being ejected into open air.

“Yah!” her companions yelled in panic, flailing uselessly as they reached for each other and tried vainly to stop their flight.

“Hold on!” Sunyoung yelled, focusing hard again. Now that they were free, she had to get them away… Her mind jumped from one flying thing to the next – dragon, no; phoenix, no; airplane, no… until she finally just envisioned an orb. With almost startling speed, a transparent globe popped into existence around them, but they were still falling. She could see the ground below, massive trees reaching up as if to catch them. “Not this time,” she exhaled, drawing strength from the men nearby, though they were still incoherent with fear and confusion. Exerting her will once more, the globe sprouted translucent wings and a seat rose up to cradle her. A steering wheel appeared, hovering in front of her, and she gripped it with both hands, taking care with the crystal in her palm.

“What’s going on?!” Aron cried out as he finally regained enough sense to question what they were experiencing.

“We’re trying to escape without getting caught!” Sunyoung shouted back at him, glancing over her shoulder to see if anyone was following. Dread shot through her when she noticed at least one hoverboard flyer in the vicinity. Where there was one, there would undoubtedly be others…

“This is crazy!” Wonshik flailed, standing up and clinging to Sunyoung’s seat as she steered them low, just above the trees. The steering wheel functioned very much like an airplane stick but at least it worked.

“I know!” she snapped back, glancing over her shoulder again and frowning when there was another hoverboard user in pursuit now. “See if you can get rid of our company,” she commanded, looking ahead to try and find a place to dip through the trees.

“How!?” they all cried in unison, completely at a loss.

“Use the crystals and your imagination!” she retorted, refraining from rolling her eyes. She knew she’d told them about it, but it was rather a lot to take in.

“Like this?” Jackson wondered aloud.

Sunyoung wasn’t sure what he was talking about until she felt the flying contraption actually shift, suddenly weighted down by something else. With a quick look to see, she blinked in surprise and answered, “Yeah?” He had summoned a… rail gun? “Don’t kill them!” she reminded him, biting her lip. “This isn’t a game, you know!”

“Right,” he muttered, and it was hard to know what he was feeling then. But at least the rail gun shifted in a moment and when she checked again, it seemed to be some kind of net gun? “Take… this!” he growled, launching off a net.

Their whole contraption shuddered at the release but Jackson’s weapon worked to scatter the two that were trailing them. Unfortunately, another had joined in the rear and they were probably going to be seeing more before too long. “We have to find a place to hide!” she grumbled, head swiveling as she returned her focus to the trees.

“We’ve got an idea!” Aron and Wonshik stated together. She couldn’t spare much attention but a quick look showed that both had taken up the equivalent of anime power stances. Under any other circumstances, it would have been funny. Now… it seemed to fit. Especially when she felt the weight of magic pass over them like a tingling blanket. It was vaguely familiar…

“Invisibility?” she wondered aloud, head turned to hear the response.

“Yep,” Aron answered in a clipped tone, the sound indicative of his focus.

“And… copies!” Wonshik added as replicas of them appeared around the ship.

Sunyoung had to admit… she was a little impressed. Oh hell. She was very impressed. “Nice!” she whispered, biting her lip as she looked back to see what the hoverboard people were going to do. The diversion appeared to work as most of them forked off in different directions. There was one hoverboard person that stayed the course though. “Hmm…” she hummed in mild concern. They were obviously not fooled by their trick, though it was likely they couldn’t see them. Unless… Sunyoung looked down and noticed that their ship was displacing some of the leaves as they passed, leaving an obvious trail to follow. “Bugger it!” she grumbled, pulling on the stick to rise up and away from the trees. As she looked back again, she noticed the same hoverboarder had slowed and appeared to be looking around in mild confusion. “Gotcha,” she snorted in satisfaction.

“Sunyoung!” she heard at the same time, just as she saw all three men fall to the back, plastered against the transparent surface of their flying device.

“Sorry!” she cringed, leveling out almost immediately.

Jackson, Wonshik, and Aron ended up in a haphazard dogpile of tangled limbs and confusion. “Get off me!” one of them yelped and another groaned in what sounded like pain. “Careful!” someone else yelped, and it took everything in her not to look back at the confused jumble of sounds. It was hard enough focusing on the copies zooming away and the hoverboard imagos trailing them as it was.

“Okay!” Now that was definitely Wonshik. “This is crazy!” he exclaimed, practically appearing at Sunyoung’s shoulder like before.

“Yah!” she yelped, yanking the flying device to the side and sending them careening to the left.

“Sunyoung!” they wailed again as they collectively found themselves piled on the left side of the device this time.

“Sorry,” Sunyoung responded, cringing at the accident. “You surprised me…”

“Surprised you?” Jackson laughed once, extracting himself with a semblance of grace. “You who called us up and told us a crazy story about people on the other side of the mirror and then pulled us through a mirror and apparently used magic to get us out of there?”

“I told you,” she shrugged, glancing at the trio uncertainly before she returned her attention to the path before her. “And you figured it out well enough,” she added, eyes narrowed while she continued to scan the trees. At the back of her mind, she had to wonder what the cost of the magics they’d expended were, but for now, she was using the majority of it. That was okay by her for the time being. She wanted their help but she didn’t want them to have to deal with any negative side effects if she could help it.

“Okay. You did,” Aron conceded as he approached her left side in a calm manner. “But we’re still gonna need a bit more explanation now that we’re actually… here, you know?” he laughed once, gesturing towards the world at large that they had suddenly found themselves in.

“I hear you,” she nodded in understanding, eyes lighting up as she finally spotted what appeared to be some kind of opening in the trees. It would at least allow them to get below the tree line and into better cover so she could explain things at catch their breath. “Hold on!” she warned, giving them a heads up this time before she banked right, aiming for the opening.

They yelped, Aron clung to her chair, and Wonshik and Jackson tumbled to the right, hitting the transparent surface again. “Ow…” they groaned in tandem as Sunyoung dipped into the sparse opening, glancing around quickly to make sure they were still being followed. Through the canopy, they plummeted, hovering between massive trunks and filtered shadows. Sunyoung didn’t know where she was going, but she knew they needed to put space between them and their trackers. And find a place where they could disperse their magic without being tracked so easily. The last part she wasn’t sure about, but distance was her biggest concern. Then… Amber.

Weaving in and out of the trees, she was grateful when the men fell silent, choosing to marvel at the wondrous things around them. She heard them gasp and murmur quietly to themselves. At one point, she noticed a pack of maps passing by them and they went crazy for a moment, staring at the strange hybrid creatures. But like before, there wasn’t much else to see. The forests remained strangely quiet in comparison to their own world. She did wonder if they might happen to see a forest crawler but figured that was not likely if they were nowhere near a Metropolis or a pathway between them or to a settlement near them.

“Okay…” she hummed at last, slowing down and easing the flying device towards the ground. “We’re gonna land and go on foot for a bit, just to put some distance between us and this thing. I don’t know how well they can track new things but Amber and Ren mentioned they could track magic so… yeah. No magic while we’re walking, okay?” she asked, looking back as she set the flying contraption on the ground.

“Sure,” they answered in almost unison, though Wonshik quickly hid his hand behind his back with a sheepish grin, the last vestiges of some kind of magic trick wearing off in its wake.

Sunyoung stood up and looked at the flying device with a frown, realizing belatedly there was no door. With a sigh, she waved her hand and drew where one should be, summoning an exit with relative ease. She couldn’t help but glance at the crystal with some concern as she did so, noticing that it seemed to be larger than the last time she had looked at it. “Come on,” she urged, waving for them to follow as she pocketed the purplish crystal and hopped outside.

“Coming!” Jackson grinned, following first. Then it was Aron and then Wonshik, but only because the other beat him to it.

“So what is this place?” Aron asked as they started moving along, keeping close to the trees as they wound their way through the giant trunks.

“I don’t really know. This is obviously a forest, but as far as the world goes…” Sunyoung answered with a shrug. “Amber and Ren only mentioned that it was a parallel dimension next to ours. They’re connected by the mirrors. Well, any truly reflective surface at any rate,” she amended, recalling the pond that had gotten her back here.

“And we can use magic here?” Jackson asked, coming abreast of her and looking down at the crystal in his palm.

“Apparently,” Sunyoung nodded. “Only some imagos can, but from what I can see… all humans can?” she answered uncertainly, shrugging on her response. “I only learned I could by accident,” she admitted with a laugh.

“Oh?” Wonshik hummed, drawing close on the other side. “What happened?” he wondered, eyes twinkling in amusement.

“I got stuck in a tree,” she answered in a deadpan tone, giving him a perturbed side eyed look.

“One of these trees?” he asked in astonishment, pointing up to the canopy above.

“Yep,” she nodded in response.

“Damn!” he whistled in surprise.

“How did you get out?” Aron asked at her back, having taken up a position directly behind her since she was now flanked by Jackson and Wonshik otherwise.

“I fell in a map’s nest and-”

“A what?” Wonshik asked first, brow furrowed.

“A map… mammalian airborne primate,” she quoted from memory, albeit a bit slowly. “That’s what Ren and Amber called them anyway.”

“Sounds wordy,” Aron snorted once.

“That’s why they call them maps,” Sunyoung added with a smile.

“So you landed in a map nest and then… what?” Jackson encouraged, trying to keep her on track.

“Well, one of them apparently found the crystal I originally showed you guys. I landed on it and put it in a pocket. When I got stuck, I started fiddling with it, just to kill time but I was thinking about what I needed and… what do you know! A rope appeared out of the tree,” she explained with a helpless gesture. “So of course I kept it, but Ren didn’t know why I could use and then he sent me back to keep me safe because apparently it’s dangerous that we know how to use magic, but… Amber’s here,” she murmured quietly, coming to a standstill that almost had Aron running into her. Her face grew hot on the memory of that parting kiss and she frowned slightly. “She’s in trouble and I… we have to help her,” she explained with a quick breath.

“What kind of trouble again?” Wonshik asked, toying with the crystal fragment between his fingers.

“Deadly if they were telling me the truth,” she muttered, swallowing hard.

“For real?!” he nearly choked, gripping the crystal in his fist.

“Where is she?” Jackson asked, grabbing Sunyoung’s shoulder and pulling her around to better face him. “I mean, you told us, I know… but it didn’t feel real then. Now…” he trailed off, face pinched with concern.

“I know,” she reassured him, placing a calming hand on his. “And I don’t know where she is exactly because I’m not sure how to navigate this place, but Ren said she was probably in Metropolis One,” she explained, licking her bottom lip.

“Metropolis One… as in One, Two, Three, and so on?” Aron inquired, leaning close so she could see him in her periphery.

“Exactly.”

“Why One though?” he wondered aloud, chewing his bottom lip.

“Oh! That was where the Royal was at, right?” Wonshik answered, raising his hand like an excited schoolboy.

“Yep,” Sunyoung nodded in agreement. “The Royal she offended.”

“Ugh…” they all groaned at once. It was a wonder they didn’t face palm together too. Sunyoung would’ve. It just felt appropriate.

“Where’s Ren in all this?” Aron asked, glancing around as if by asking he could somehow summon the missing person.

“I don’t know,” Sunyoung admitted hesitantly. “He said that Amber had friends on this side and that they’d be doing what they could to help her. But he wouldn’t let me stay so I don’t know where he went after he sent me back to our world,” she explained with a grumble, crossing her arms over her chest. She understood why he did it, but she was still annoyed.

“Okay. So… any ideas about how to find either of them now?” Jackson asked, following Aron’s example. He seemed to feel that if he looked around enough, he could find something.

“Magic?” Sunyoung offered with a hesitant shrug.

“About that…” Wonshik hummed, leaning close so he could rest his arm on her shoulder and give her a sidelong look. “How exactly does magic work here? I mean, we see it in movies and shows all the time and we saw it here when we actually used It, but… what’s the deal?”

“I wish I knew,” she responded with a sigh. “Ren and Amber said that imagos – people like them – can use it if they have Royal blood. But when they do, it usually has a high price. Like… costs them years or time. Something like that,” she tried to explain, biting her bottom lip as she did so.

“Eh?” they reacted at once, surprised voices rising as they moved around her. “You mean that using magic will basically make us old?” “Or kill us?” Jackson and Wonshik nearly stumbled over each other in their haste to speak first.

“I don’t know!” Sunyoung shrugged again. “I only just figured out _I _could use magic here. Doesn’t work on the other side,” she grumbled, still a little miffed about that.

“So we don’t know what effects using magic will have on us here,” Aron clarified for everyone, taking his crystal out to stare at it intently.

“No, we don’t,” she agreed, taking hers out too so she could see it herself. “Does anyone feel any different?” she asked, wondering in part because she didn’t but wasn’t sure if that extended to the other three as well.

“I don’t _feel _different but I do think mine _looks_ different. A little… bigger,” Wonshik hummed thoughtfully.

“Yeah. Apparently, the more you put into them, the larger they get,” Sunyoung explained, tilting her head to the side as if that explained everything. “The Metropolises have huge crystals powering them. Something that previous Royals have helped to establish apparently,” she added, glancing around the trio to see how they were reacting.

Aron looked thoughtful, Wonshik overwhelmed, and Jackson had more of a blank look, like he was processing everything. He was the one that spoke first in the end. “You’re sure that Amber is in life or death danger?”

“I believe so,” Sunyoung responded. She couldn’t say yes, because she didn’t actually know for certain, but she felt as much. Ren’s fear, and Amber’s, had been too real.

“Then magic it is,” he shrugged, nodding once as if to himself.

“You sure?” she couldn’t help but ask first, glancing at Aron and then Wonshik as well. They looked a little surprised but not against the idea.

“Yep,” he grinned, peering at the crystal between his fingers now. His gaze shifted to her and he continued, “You might be the one she’s closest to, but we’re still her friends. Even if she did keep this whole place a secret from us,” he snorted once. “How did you find out anyway?” he wondered, eyes narrowing when he looked up to focus on her.

Sunyoung flinched in surprise and then flushed as she remembered the events leading up to her ending up in this world. “She kind of pulled me through a mirror when I was at work. Amber being Amber, she didn’t really have a plan, but was doing her best,” she explained, nodding along to the words.

“Hah! Sounds like Amber,” Wonshik chuckled, tossing his crystal up once and then catching it deftly in his hand.

“Sounds like we’re all on board then,” Aron grinned, stepping close to clap Sunyoung on her free shoulder.

“You too?” she blinked in surprise.

“Uh huh. You brought us here, so we’re all in it together,” he winked, looking at the others to confirm. They nodded in agreement and he focused his attention on Sunyoung once more. “So what’s the plan?”

Excitement and panic filled her at the same time and Sunyoung found the three suddenly looking to her for guidance in this. She was not normally the planner or leader, but admittedly, she did have slightly more experience here. And she had just a bit more understanding of what was going on. Not that it amounted to much… but the one thing hadn’t changed. “We find Amber and we rescue her.”

“What can we expect?” Jackson asked, glancing at his fist, the other holding onto the crystal fragment.

“If my last encounter and Ren’s explanation are anything to go on… more hoverboard users and likely Royals who can also use magic. Not sure how that will effect our own magic to be honest,” she admitted uncertainly, her stomach clenching at the thought.

“Any idea of how many?” Aron asked, his tongue licking his bottom lip thoughtfully.

“Sorry. None,” Sunyoung cringed apologetically.

“That’s okay. We’ll just take it one step at a time,” Jackson encouraged, patting Sunyoung on the back reassuringly. “You’ve used the most magic so far, so I think we should probably take it in turns, now that we’ve got an idea of what’s going on.”

“Agreed,” Aron spoke with a quick nod. “Wonshik?”

“Huh? Oh yeah. Sounds good,” he grinned, stuffing his crystal into his pocket so he wouldn’t keep getting distracted by it.

“So you said they can track us when we use magic?” Jackson asked, glancing at the direction in which they’d left the flying device.

“That’s what Ren said. And Amber. And she did use magic just before they really found us so… probably,” Sunyoung explained as best she could.

“Guess we’ll just have to focus on moving quickly then,” Wonshik shrugged, looking around the group to confirm the agreed.

“Exactly. If you guys don’t have a better idea, I’d like to go first,” Aron volunteered, a thoughtful gleam in his eyes.

“Oh?” Jackson chuckled with a wry grin. “Fine by me. That’ll leave us for offense or defense when we get close anyway,” he added, stepping close to Wonshik so he could pull the other man under his arm in a friendly, cajoling gesture.

“So if you’re tracking and transportation and you guys are offense and defense… what does that leave me?” Sunyoung laughed once, pointing between the men.

“Why, search and rescue of course,” Aron winked, giving her a slight bow.

“Oh,” she chirped, nodding to herself and feeling rather satisfied with that decision. “Okay then,” she murmured, taking a breath and putting her hand out like in a huddle. “You guys ready then?” she asked, looking at the trio around her as her heart started to race.

“Of course!” they agreed in tandem, shuffling to reach their hands in as well.

“Let’s do this?” Wonshik asked, his way of offering their cheer.

The group looked at each other and shrugged before nodding in easy acceptance. “One… two… Let’s do this!” they crowded, raising their hands high and full of nervous energy. Looking around, Sunyoung couldn’t help but feel she had made the right choice in asking them to help her. She just hoped that none of them would have to pay a heavy price for it…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the delay again and for any typos or errors. This is very much a version I haven't looked over with a fine toothed comb, but it's whole and where I wanna go with it. So... thank you for being patient and I do hope you enjoy. Please bear with me as I get the next update out. Considering I have a deadline with this one, I should be getting another update out soon so keep your fingers crossed! lol Thank you and have a wonderful week!


	9. Target Located

Okay. Sunyoung had to hand it to Aron. He certainly had a mind for magic. Or at least creating things from magic. The ship they were in now was a far cry from what she’d envisioned initially. He had taken her design and morphed it into something more akin to an actual sci-fi cruiser, almost like something out of Star Trek or Star Wars. She wasn’t sure as she hadn’t really followed either all that much, but it was far more efficient than her design and… he’d added cloaking. With that, they didn’t even need to use magic to hide themselves.

Well… the ship at least. She herself was still using magic to track Amber down, so Wonshik and Jackson were taking turns running a low key shield. Whether it was working or not was debatable but no one had shown up on their screens yet so they all assumed it was. Sunyoung had taken her initial compass idea and translated it into a handheld device more akin to a tablet. Right now, they were apparently on course to find wherever Amber was being held. Provided the magic was working the way it was supposed to and nothing was throwing them off.

She could only hope that they weren’t too late or that nothing really bad had happened in the meantime and that Ren was okay too. There were just too many things she didn’t know. And they had tried looking in on them, but something had kept them from getting through. Sunyoung figured they either had magic blocking them out or that Amber and Ren were under magic lock and key. Either were possible… Though it did make her worry about how accurate her tracker as if they couldn’t even get a picture of Amber by magical means.

“There’s movement ahead,” Aron warned softly as he pulled up on the controls of the ship and slowed them down initially, giving them time to turn their attention outward.

“Wow…” Jackson and Wonshik murmured nearly together as they laid eyes on the floating city ahead of them. When they were falling out of whatever Metropolis they’d entered, no one had really had much opportunity to look around. Neither had they headed towards any other Metropolises when they fled under Sunyoung’s direction previously so this was their first time actually getting a good look at one. Like any standard city, it spread out before them with obvious tiers in the society. The outermost rim held lower quality establishments and smaller spaces. It did not resemble a slum by any means, but it was clear those on the outskirts were not particularly favored. Further in, Sunyoung noticed the peculiar circular structure that all Imagos helped maintain to keep humans like them out. There was a divide for this one though – the outskirts separated from the middle tier. And beyond the middle tier, there were rising towers that must have been for the upper echelons of society: aka – Royals.

“It’s enormous,” Aron blinked in surprise, brows furrowed as he turned his head from side to side to better take in the size.

Sunyoung had to agree. This one – Metropolis 1 by all accounts – was larger than Metropolis 3. Considerably so. “I think it’s so big because it’s the first Metropolis,” she commented, blinking as she frowned at the floating crystal beneath. It was massive…

Almost echoing her thoughts, Wonshik pointed and asked, “Is that purple thing a magic crystal?”

“Yep,” she answered without looking away, though she saw Wonshik reach into his pocket to look at his own crystal again in her periphery. Theirs were quite tiny in comparison. She wondered how many Royals had gone into making it the size it was.

“Can you see any guards or defenses?” Jackson asked, coming close to lean against the seat Aron was in.

Aron’s hands moved across the console and he did… something to get a reaction. “Can’t tell about defenses but it does look like there might be guards around the perimeter. At least if those hoverboard people are guards anyway.”

“They are,” Sunyoung confirmed with a grimace, annoyed they were here too. She turned her attention back to the tracker in her hands and bit her lip. This was where it was leading them but she didn’t know where Amber was and she didn’t know what they were going to be up against.

“Hmm,” Wonshik hummed as he moved to bracket Aron, all three men staring at their objective.

Looking up to stare at their backs, Sunyoung suddenly had second thoughts. Not that she doubted them, but about them going into danger. She was glad they’d believed her enough to try but this was… dangerous. This might end very poorly. And if it did… it felt like it might be her fault. She had brought them here after all. “Umm…” she started to say, not sure how to voice her concerns.

“Uh uh,” Aron stated immediately, shaking his head. “We’re not staying behind,” he countered, as if he could read her thoughts. Given that magic was involved, it was possible, but Sunyoung didn’t think that was it.

“We knew it might be dangerous once we sorted out what was going on,” Jackson shrugged, giving her a lopsided grin over his shoulder.

“But Amber’s our friend too and there’s no way we’re making you go in there alone,” Wonshik winked and laughed. “It’s not what friends do.”

Sunyoung blinked in surprise as her chest suddenly grew tight. “You’re all a bunch of idiots,” she laughed once, sniffing as her eyes started to tear up.

“Says the one who brought us along,” Aron snorted, looking over his seat at her. She should have been annoyed with the comment, but it wasn’t like she could fault him.

“That tracker thing still pointing to the city?” Jackson asked, nodding towards the Metropolis.

“Yeah,” Sunyoung answered as she wiped at one eye quickly. “I’ve got nothing about _where _Amber is but she should be there. Somewhere…”

“Okay. We’ll just have to go in and search for her then. Can’t be that hard to find,” Aron murmured, turning his attention back to the screen as he pushed them ahead.

“What if someone sees us?” Wonshik asked, shuffling over to his seat on the left side of the cockpit.

“We get to try our defenses out,” Jackson reminded him as he split off to the right side of the cockpit. Both fell into the spinning chairs and activated what looked suspiciously like turrets.

“Remember. We’re not trying to really hurt anybody,” Sunyoung reminded them carefully, not sure what they intended with their weapons.

“We know,” Jackson and Wonshik answered in tandem, looking back at the same time to give her a reassuring wave. “They’re not lethal.”

“Or ourselves,” Aron added with a thumbs up from where he was sitting.

“You guys,” Sunyoung smiled, taking a breath and nodding determinedly. If they were ready, then so was she. “Okay then! Let’s go get Amber back!” she cheered, raising her fist up and pointing ahead as if she was suddenly the captain of the ship. All eyes turned to her in genuine amusement, Sunyoung flushed in sudden embarrassment, and then Aron shrugged in acceptance before throttling them forward.

The nose of the ship turned upward and then leveled out to get them above the city so they could fly in from overhead. None of them really wanted to get too close to the crystal at the bottom. There was no telling what it would do to their own ship or magics. Though from above, the city looked very much like a metropolis back on their side. Something like Seoul or LA maybe. And there were so many… people? Imagos at any rate. They dotted the roads and paths and moved about like ants beneath floating disks and hoverboard using individuals. The sky above was still fairly light though it wouldn’t have mattered as the city below was teeming with it. Bright signs and overt illuminations seemed to be everywhere, making it hard to tell who was who amongst the faces below.

Granted, that could have also been just because they were Imagos and subject to changing their appearances at will. Or not having any particular face at the moment. But for all that there were people below, no one seemed to notice them. Even the ones flying had no obvious idea Aron was steering around them with admirable ease. Unlike Metropolis 3, there were a lot more hoverboards in the air here. It made Sunyoung a little nervous since they were likely Royals of some kind. Magic users. People that might prove a challenge to handle if they had to fight.

She still didn’t know what they were going to be up against, but a nervous feeling began to form in the pit of her stomach as they continued near the heart of the city. Taller buildings rose up like modern castles, overshadowing the rest of the city even as they surrounded the pulsing crystal heart. That had to be where she was, didn’t it? Higher and higher they rose, seeking to reach an altitude where they could pass over the buildings. They were nearly there when the ship seemed to hit something and everyone jolted forward.

“Yah!” they yelped with Sunyoung actually falling out of her chair, the tracker hitting the ground as it flew out of her hands.

“What happened?” Jackson asked, clinging to his controls with a panicked look in his eyes.

“We hit something,” Aron answered in confusion, focusing ahead as he tried to see what it was. “Uh…” he trailed off, drawing their attention to the front.

“What in the world…?” Wonshik whispered, partially standing up as he stared at the flickering barrier in front of them. The ship was still pressing against it, having stopped short, and the reaction of their conflicting powers revealed them to the denizens below.

“Well that’s not good…” Aron murmured, frowning at the barrier before glancing down at his console to look at something that was more worrisome. “Trouble from… all sides,” he blinked quickly, looking at Jackson and Wonshik quickly.

“Turret time!” Wonshik grinned, though it was a bit forced and his words were breathy.

“Right,” Jackson echoed, jumping back into his seat as they activated their weapons.

Sunyoung felt the ship hum beneath her as she carefully got up from the ground. The tracker was just ahead and she retrieved it with another look at the screen. It was still working and hadn’t changed. “Sunyoung?” she heard, drawing her attention to Aron who was looking at her from over his shoulder.

She swallowed and looked at her companions. They were ready for whatever was coming. A quick glance out the nearest portal showed hoverboarders heading their way. Likely more too as soon as they could be summoned. Her dark eyes focused on the flickering barrier ahead of them and then at the screen in her hands. “We’ve gotta get in there,” she murmured determinedly, coming to stand abreast of Aron.

“Understood,” he nodded once, taking a breath as he seemed to relax into his position. They both flinched when the ship jerked as Wonshik or Jackson fired something, but kept their attention focused on the way ahead. “Let’s see if we can punch through this thing,” Aron murmured with narrowed eyes. His hands reached forward and nudged at the controls. The ship hummed louder and the barrier hissed, but nothing happened. “Come on,” he whispered determinedly.

Standing this close to him, Sunyoung could practically feel him trying to push magic into the effort. It made her skin tingle and sent a shiver up her spine. “It’s strong,” she breathed, glancing at their defenders. Both were focused wholly on their own screens, pivoting this way and that in their chairs as they followed something or other. The ship jumped in tiny motions when they fired, but for all their efforts, it was strangely quiet. Whatever they were doing though, it was working. No one had gotten through yet, but she had no doubt it would last forever. Nor did she want them having to worry about using too much magic in the meantime.

“I’m punching it but nothing’s giving,” Aron commented in disgust, glancing at Sunyoung quickly. One hand reached into his pocket to retrieve the – larger – crystal piece, a frustrated grimace on his face.

“Wait,” Sunyoung cautioned, pressing her hand against his to keep him from using it again. “I’ve got an idea,” she promised, setting the tracker aside and retrieving her own crystal. They’d let her rest for the time and it was her turn now. “Just be ready,” she whispered, giving him no chance to argue or dissuade her.

Aron relented easily enough, shaking his head and shrugging once. “If you say so. Keep it up guys,” he called in encouragement with a glance at his screen, keeping tabs on movement around them.

“We got this,” Wonshik snorted dismissively, even if he did sound a bit stressed.

“Just do whatever it is you’re gonna do fast,” Jackson chimed in, adding a little more impetus to their efforts.

‘I can do this,’ Sunyoung told herself in her head, nodding once as she gripped her crystal tight. Focusing hard at the shimmering barrier in front of them, she narrowed her attention to one tiny spot – the point the noise of the ship was currently pressing up against. “There,” she growled, envisioning ephemeral hands jamming their fingertips into the space. For a moment, her envisioning flailed, scratching at the smooth, unbroken surface, and she felt frustration well up. Pushing that into the magic, the bite of her anger turned the fingers sharp and hard, snagging at the fabric of the barrier. For a second, she blinked in surprise and then doubled her efforts, leaning forward as she physically and mentally willed the space to rip open.

“What the…?” Aron breathed in surprise, though Sunyoung dared not look at him to see.

“You will let us through!” Sunyoung growled as her arms shook from fighting the invisible force. It was like pushing against a mountain. But one that inevitably, invariably, albeit slowly, moved.

“Any minute now, guys!” Wonshik called, yelping when the ship jumped from something.

“Aron,” Sunyoung whispered, feeling his presence nearby.

“On it!” he called out, pushing them forward again.

“Hah!” Jackson cheered as the ship started to move, the nose breaching the defensive wall. “Shit!” he added just as quickly when the ship rocked once more, yet another something hitting them from the outside.

Pressure pushed against her and Sunyoung’s vision suddenly zoomed in, turning black at the edges. "Dammit…” she growled, leaning against the chair as her knees grew weak.

“Sunyoung?” she heard, figuring it to be Aron’s voice but it sounded so faint.

Fighting against the seemingly insurmountable force, she closed her eyes and breathed deep. “For Amber,” she exhaled, making one more push. Her hands stalled but the pressure felt like it eased a bit. “Go!” she commanded, lurching back when Aron joined her in pressing forward. Her face contorted as the ship squeezed past the hands, driving through the breach like a metal baby being birthed.

“Yes!” Aron crowed, alerting Sunyoung that they had made it through. Weak with relief and exhaustion, she abruptly collapsed to the floor, her legs buckling under her. “Sunyoung!” Aron yelped in surprise.

“Huh?” Wonshik and Jackson chirped at the same time.

Coming around just enough, she waved off their concern with a weak hand. “I’m okay. Just drained,” she explained, licking her lips and blinking hard. There were now spots in her vision but at least she could breathe normally again. “What’s it look like inside?” she asked breathily, forcing her head up though she did not attempt to stand yet.

“Well…” Aron trailed off, head turning from side to side as he stared at the screen before him.

“I don’t even know how to explain it,” Jackson added, getting out of his seat and wandering closer to help Sunyoung up while he stared out the front portal.

“Like something out of a movie,” Wonshik added, drifting closer in turn.

With nothing pressing on them from outside and a strange feeling of tranquility now that they were inside the barrier, Sunyoung stood up amidst the three men and they all stared at the scene before them. Surrounded by high rise buildings, the center of the Metropolis was easily the size of an entire football stadium. The open circle yawned before them with the purple crystal pulsing beneath it, a giant gemstone heart hovering below. Immediately around the innermost ring was empty space and curious devices that seemed to stand like pillars at set points around it. Beyond them were the occasional figure and towards the buildings were spaces more akin to mansion yards, complete with extravagant settings and pools and manicured gardens featuring all manner of trimmed bushes and hedges.

“Are we dreaming?” Wonshik asked as he leaned forward and blinked hard at the strange shift in the landscape. It was like Beverly Hills but fantasy while the other side was very much the sprawling downtown of Seoul or New York…

“No. I don’t think we are,” Jackson whispered, pointing down near the crystal where, at the edge of the ring, an Imago was standing. They were quite close to one of those pillar things.

Taking a shaky step forward, Sunyoung was drawn by the pillar. There was something… She paused and blinked when the figure beside it reached out and placed their hand on the surface. In a flash, it went from opaque to translucent and they all gasped. “Amber…” Sunyoung whispered, seeing the young woman trapped within. From this distance, she shouldn’t have been able to tell it was her. Not with her head bowed as she sat huddled in the interior, not looking up. But everything in her screamed that it was.

The figure beside her, definitely more of a masculine persona, smiled, the expression chilling rather than reassuring. He dropped his gaze to the crystal and everyone in the ship jumped when lightning sparked. It arced up and struck the container Amber was in, jolting her sharply. They couldn’t hear her, but her scream was obvious.

“No!” they all shouted in unison, lunging forward as if they could reach her through the ship.

When the lightning subsided, Amber turned an icy glare at the figure next to her. She didn’t see them yet. Not until he nodded once in their direction. Then, as if pulled by a magnet, her eyes drifted up to the ship and her jaw dropped open in dumbfounded surprise. Her brows dipped in confusion and she squinted, trying to figure out who they were. She looked so tired… and older.

“Hold on, Amber,” Sunyoung whispered, nearly pressed up against the front portal. “We’re coming for you,” she promised, turning an angry glare on the figure beside her best friend. “And you,” she growled, meeting his eyes like he could actually see them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay. So finishing this story has certainly been a challenge and I don't know why. :/ We are getting to the endgame though and if all goes well, we should have two more chapters from here. I'm hoping to finish them this weekend but definitely by the November 2nd deadline. Thank you for being patient with me and I hope you enjoyed this update. Please look forward to the next!


	10. Battle in the Heart of a City

Their standoff felt like it lasted a lifetime, but it might well have only been a few seconds. The stalemate broke abruptly when the Imago raised his hand towards the ship. Amber opened her mouth to say something, a warning perhaps, but there was no time to react regardless. The four passengers screamed as a massive bolt of lightning jumped from the crystal below, smashing into the ship. The magically created vehicle bucked upwards from the jolt and then started to plummet, taking the passengers inside with it.

“Hold on!” Aron yelled, briefly flailing like the rest as he reached for the controls. His panel appeared to be dead and the interior was dark, but still he tried all the same. Not that Sunyoung could do much. Her feet weren’t even on the ground anymore and she was just as helpless as Wonshik and Jackson. They all sort of hovered in that weird freefall of madness, descending towards the crystal below.

“Aron!” she yelped, contorting in the air to get a better look at him and trying not to see the danger below.

“Just a… got it!” he cried in triumph, snagging the control stick and yanking himself back into the seat. There was no initial response, filling Sunyoung and company with dread, but then it hummed to life in a burst of power that echoed through the cockpit, making her ears ring. “Move!” Aron commanded, yanking hard on the control stick.

“AH!” the remaining trio shouted, the sound turning to pained groans as they crashed into the floor of the ship. They fell silent as pressure grew, smashing them harder against the unforgiving metal, and then slid backwards when the ship tilted.

“It’s fighting me,” Aron announced, arms trembling as he maintained his death grip on the control stick.

“Hold on,” Jackson groaned, hauling himself to his feet awkwardly. Wonshik crawled over to help Sunyoung while the other man plodded to Aron. “You got this,” he encouraged, placing his hand atop Aron’s and grabbing his crystal with the other. Power reverberated through the cockpit once more, setting Sunyoung’s hair on end. All of a sudden, the pressure stopped and, as they looked out from the front portal, they could see a shimmering bubble surrounding them. Small trails of lighting flickered over the surface, dancing from the crystal below, but the power was no longer affecting them.

“Thanks,” Aron gasped, tension leaving him briefly as he relaxed for just a moment.

“What did you do?” Sunyoung asked, blinking quickly as she held to Wonshik and shuffled to the two up front.

“Set up a reflective power barrier on the outside to break us free from the crystal’s pull,” Jackson admitted with a wan smile, though his eyes were a bit dazed.

“You okay?” Sunyoung asked with a worried look.

“Mostly. Just feel like I’ve been punched by a giant,” he added with a small shake of his head.

“Look sharp,” Aron called out, drawing their attention back to the front. With the ship now level and rising slowly to come abreast of the platform, they could see the Imago and Amber both. She looked amazed and the man looked… irritated or angry.

“What’s the plan?” Wonshik asked, glancing around quickly as Jackson flinched when another arc of lightning danced against the reflective barrier.

“I suggest we do something soon,” Jackson encouraged, complexion pale. “My crystal keeps getting bigger but I’m starting to fade here. Can’t keep it up too much longer,” he explained with a grimace and a look at his fist-sized crystal now.

“If possible, we should probably split up,” Aron commented, gesturing vaguely at the screen so they could see they were starting to gain an audience.

“Are they all Royals?” Sunyoung wondered with some trepidation.

“No idea, but it doesn’t change that we still have to get Amber out of there,” Wonshik shook his head. “Splitting up sounds good. May have to try that hoverboard idea,” he added with a predatory grin. “Wish me luck!” he cheered before narrowing his eyes in a focusing look and promptly disappearing.

“Wonshik!” Sunyoung yelped, feeling his disappearance keenly as he was there and then gone with no warning.

“There!” Aron pointed, drawing their attention to the front and above them.

“Idiot!” Jackson snorted, though his mouth pulled up into a slight grin.

Just above the ship and using the reflective shield as cover from the lightning below, Wonshik hovered on a board, both hands on either side of him, apparently ready for anything. Taking a page from Jackson, he conjured a protective bubble and then darted forward.

“Careful!” Sunyoung warned uselessly as lightning jumped up to follow him. It bounced off harmlessly but did knock him off his course, forcing him to change his plan. The Imago beside Amber raised his hand to follow and more lightning trailed after, proving to be a powerful irritant but little more. Yet.

“See if you can’t do something about that container,” Aron suggested, leaving it open to interpretation as to who he was talking to.

Considering Jackson was already busy, Sunyoung assumed it was her. Even as Aron jerked the controls, making them another moving target to help take the heat off Wonshik as he tried to get close, Sunyoung focused on Amber’s holding cell. She wasn’t sure what she could or should do, but the magic hands idea had worked pretty well before. “Here goes nothing,” she murmured, moving to anchor herself against Aron’s chair again so she could focus on her task.

Once more, she envisioned hands in the air, feeling them like phantom extensions of herself. Honing her will, she directed them to the container and tried to find a hold or a crack to pry at. Pushing against it didn’t do anything as it was like waging war against ice – hard and slippery. There was nothing to actually grab either, because of the same problem. And then she was just reflexively grabbing at anything as the ship she was in moved without warning.

Aron and Jackson yelped when the vessel careened upwards and to the side, rammed by a concentrated burst of collected lightning from the crystal below. “What was that?!” Sunyoung cried as she struggled to center herself in the present again.

“I’d say an electrical battering ram,” Jackson muttered under his breath, visibly sagging and white as a sheet.

“Any luck?” Aron asked, glancing back at Sunyoung as he started to pursue evasive maneuvers. It was hard to avoid lightning when it was directed from someone below though…

“No,” Sunyoung scowled in frustration. “I can’t find a ho-” she started to say before they were yanked down, picking both her and Jackson off the floor. He lost his concentration and the reflective barrier around them shattered. Electricity hummed immediately after, coursing through the ship with mad abandon. There was no time to react or do anything more than scream as the power from below grabbed and shook them like a rabid dog.

Sunyoung balled up tight, curled close and clenching the crystal hard in her fist. With her eyes clenched shut, she couldn’t see, but there was no mistaking the sound of anguished metal as the ship was ripped apart around them. She screamed, as Aron and Jackson screamed, and then fell silent, breath stolen by a sentient arm of lightning. A white hot tendril snaked around her waist, constricting painfully before it threw her away.

“Sunyoung!” someone cried as something caught her. It was enough to slow her but not stop her momentum altogether as her and her rescuer crashed against a wall, nearly knocking her senseless. For a moment, she just hovered in a state of bare consciousness, body singing with pain, before the air shifted. It grew strangely quiet and she felt unaccountably weak all of a sudden. More so than just from being electrocuted and tossed. “Sunyoung?” she heard again, the voice familiar and worried. Hands grasped her face gently, cradling it. “Look at me,” the other person… no… Amber whispered.

The realization was enough to make her pry her eyes open and blink rapidly up at the other woman’s face. Fear gave way to relief and her dark eyes relaxed immediately, taking years off the expression. But not enough… “Amber,” Sunyoung whispered, reaching to clasp the hands against her face. “You’re older,” she added, thoughts coming together slowly. On one level, she knew she should be worried about what had just happened, but the most obvious thing in her immediate sight was that Amber had wrinkles and graying hair and she wasn’t supposed to…

Amber’s lips thinned slightly and her forehead creased in concern, but she went on, “Are you okay?”

Taking a breath and gathering her senses, Sunyoung nodded slightly. “I think so.”

“Good. Come on then,” Amber urged, shifting her hands to better help her sit up, even as her gaze shifted to look at something else.

Sunyoung rested against Amber’s chest and turned to follow her gaze, flinching when she saw the Imago from before. He was watching them with interest, expression mostly unreadable. Behind him were two other figures. Older if she had to guess. One male and one female. They looked absolutely beautiful but unimpressed by everything. “The guys!” she gasped, jerking as her attention shifted to the open air where they had just been. The ship was gone and she didn’t see Aron, Wonshik or Jackson in the immediate vicinity.

“They’re over there,” Amber pointed quickly, moving her arm to continue shielding Sunyoung as best she could after the fact.

Following the direction, she noticed several other pillar capsule things that were now transparent. Figures were in them as well, but it was hard to tell from here who they were exactly. She didn’t doubt Amber’s knowledge though. Confused and starting to become panicky, Sunyoung licked her lip and looked back at the nearest Imago. “Is that…?”

“V,” Amber answered with a scathing glare at the blonde, almond eyed man. “Spoiled prick,” she muttered, her expression darkening when he smirked at her look. “And his parents… That would be Jessica and Heechul. They got tired of his toying with you guys and ended his game early.”

“He was toying with us?” Sunyoung murmured in dazed realization. It was definitely possible. He was using the power of the crystal below after all. There was no telling how much he would have been able to draw from it. No wonder they’d felt so exhausted.

“Why did you come back?” Amber asked, ignoring the question. “I told you to escape,” she laughed once, the sound both amazed and bitter at the same time.

“I couldn’t just leave you to die,” she admitted quietly, turning enough to look up at the other woman. “You’re one of my best friends.” And maybe something more…

Amber snorted through her nose, a pleased but sad smile pulling at her mouth. “Okay, but how?” she wondered, shaking her head.

That made Sunyoung sit up. “I found a crystal!” she gasped, uncurling her fingers around the palm sized gem.

“Eh?” her companion gasped in surprise, blinking at the gem in astonishment.

“I can get us out of here,” she grinned, turning to look at V with a triumphant smile. It worried her that he saw the crystal and laughed, but she pushed it away to focus. Immediately though, something felt wrong. In her hands, the gem felt dead. Like there was no power at all in it. Trying harder, she grimaced when nothing she did or envisioned made anything happen.

“What’s wrong?” Amber asked, both hands resting on Sunyoung’s back encouragingly.

“It’s not working,” she admitted, glancing at V, who was obviously talking but mute, and then at Amber again.

“-are soundproof unless you change the properties,” a woman’s voice intruded, drawing their attention with a wave of her hand. Jessica looked at V with a nonplussed expression on her flawless face and he wilted just a touch under her dark eyed glare.

“Mother,” he grumbled, shoulders hunched. It would have been amusing under other circumstances.

“Honestly. Your obsession with Amber has been a little beneath you, son,” Heechul spoke this time, running slender fingers through his bright red hair.

“But she-”

“Tried to kill you?” Jessica laughed once, flicking her wavy brunette hair with a careless hand. “You and your pride,” she exhaled, shaking her head. “Then you went and let her little friends in just so you could have more fun,” she added, further disappointed. When V actually winced just a touch and had the presence to look guilty, she blinked in surprise.

“They broke in on their own power then,” Heechul snorted, shaking his head like he could hardly believe it. “They are interesting humans indeed. Ah,” he exclaimed, nodding to himself with a look at the crystal in Sunyoung’s hands. “That would be why. Someone got lucky before they came this way,” he mused, crossing his arms over his chest. But then his expression turned thoughtful before pity took its place. “Oh dear. Looks like you’re already starting to feel the effects though.”

Both Amber and Sunyoung jerked in surprise at his words and looked to each other. Amber hadn’t changed all that much since they’d both been trapped in the same space together, but her face told Sunyoung that maybe she had… “What?” she asked, biting her bottom lip uncertainly.

“You’re aging,” Amber answered quietly, bringing her fingertips up to trace Sunyoung’s face as if she was following new lines.

“What?” Sunyoung asked in scared surprise. She looked down at her hands and inhaled softly when they did look different. Paler. Thinner. Weaker. She reached to grab a strand of hair and noticed it too had gray strands starting to appear.

“You must have used quite a bit of magic,” Jessica commented with a focused look.

“I don’t understand,” Sunyoung blinked, staring at the crystal. Why would it suddenly affect her now?

“I guess it only makes sense that Amber wouldn’t know,” V started, trying to regain some face. “Only true Royals are kept in the loop.” Both Amber and Sunyoung looked confused. “While Imagos are magical beings by nature, humans have no inherent magic. The magic you’ve been tapping into has come from your world. As long as you have some connection to your world, the effects are not exactly permanent. Your body feels the strain, but the premature aging process does not occur. However, should your connection be severed…” he explained, gesturing at the container they were in.

Sunyoung felt only panic but then she heard Amber laugh and it caught her attention enough to focus on her instead. “I get it,” she chuckled, shaking her head and licking her lips as she glared at V again. “Royals are nothing more than the descendants of human and Imago pairings. Aren’t they?” she scoffed, turning her attention to Jessica and Heechul immediately after.

They gestured as one, conceding the point. “How else would we have managed to create such grand structures without dying immediately?” Heechul asked rhetorically.

“And now you’re using the crystal’s power and magic instead of your own to maintain your longevity,” she grumbled in disgust.

“And whatever power we do use we replenish by using those who have stepped out of line,” Jessica explained with a shrug. “You and your companions are merely unfortunate casualties of our son’s… ire.”

A crushing sense of dread and defeat washed over Sunyoung. She had been so very foolish. Her heart was in the right place, but she had looked before she leaped and now her and her friends were going to pay the price for it. They were going to die. And it really was her fault… “Amber,” she gasped, not knowing how much time she had left. She still felt weak and she wasn’t sure when that would translate to her starting to die. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, her chest and throat feeling tight.

“Shh. It’s alright,” Amber promised bravely, her expression so much stronger than it should have been.

“No. I wanted to save you. I really did. I mean, you’re my friend, but I really like you and I just want you to know that before-” she started to ramble before Amber’s fingers on her lips cut her off.

“I really like you too,” she reassured her with a warm smile. “But I’ve gotta stop you there so I can save us both now,” she winked, grabbing Sunyoung’s hand – the one with the crystal in it – and kissing her forehead firmly.

“You’re just as trapped as she is,” V laughed once, a perfect eyebrow raised to convey his disbelief in her ability.

“Yes, but unlike Sunyoung, I am still mostly an Imago,” Amber stated firmly, standing up with the crystal in her hand. “And you will not keep us in here,” she promised, lowering her head to glare at the container’s see-through wall.

Sunyoung flinched as power immediately started coalescing within. It was powerful and almost suffocating with the way it filled the container. Seeking reassurance and trying to give what she could, she leaned against Amber’s leg, looping her arms around it loosely. When she focused hard enough, she could almost see what Amber was trying to do. There was some kind of thing or device spinning immediately in front of her. Outside, the three Royals looked on in hesitant amusement that turned to alarm when the wall started to crack.

“No!” V scowled, reaching his hand to the crystal below as he directed lightning to shock the container again.

Sunyoung screamed and clung tighter to Amber’s leg, closing her eyes against the pain. Amber growled and her fury turned to power, accompanied by the sound of crunching, crumbling glass. More lightning joined the first strike and Sunyoung’s vision faded.

Feeling bad about subjecting Sunyoung to such a punishment, Amber used her anger and her guilt to finish punching a hole in their enclosure. At once, she reached and the power from beyond was hers to command as well. Crystal in hand, she dragged the lightning from the air, removing its force from Sunyoung, and used the power to disintegrate the container completely. Aged but more powerful than she’d ever been before, she banished the lightning and stood, facing down the trio before her. Oh, there were others in the vicinity, she knew. More Royals and their relative servants. But it didn’t matter. None of it did.

“I won’t let you do this,” she promised with steely determination and a minute gesture towards the unresponsive Sunyoung.

“We can’t let you stop us,” Jessica answered just as steadfastly.

“Not like you could do much of anything by yourself,” V added, looking down his nose at her, even as he held himself ready to attack.

Amber smirked at the comment. “True. I am not a one Imago army. But neither am I alone,” she added, eyes darting to Sunyoung and the company around them in the containers. What was more, there were others beyond the barrier too. She knew. They waited. They yearned to enter this side. No longer would they be denied.

“You will fall,” Heechul stated simply, grabbing power from the heart crystal and directing it at her. It was joined quickly by commands from Jessica and V as well.

Hiding behind a reflective shield, Amber crouched, one hand holding the crystal up, bolstering her defenses, the other pressing flat against the metallic ground. “For Sunyoung,” she whispered, closing her eyes as she envisioned what she wanted. Through the very structure, power streamed from her fingertips, crawling over the metropolis like an expanding spider web. Fingers of power reached the other containers and destroyed them from the ground up. “One more thing,” she gasped, falling to her knees as the attacks wore on her, as the power she commanded took more from her. The spider web moved in the other direction this time. Towards the power barrier surrounding the heart of the city. “Break,” she commanded, running into sections around the perimeter and driving at them with pin point precision and power. Her own shields were starting to fail as her concentration wavered, but not yet… “Break!” she commanded again, pressing hard against those tiny fractures in the wall. It was barely enough to create a pinprick through to the other side. “Break…” she gasped one more time as her own shield failed. Power washed over her and she let it, using the pain to drive one final wedge in the wall.

“Get them,” Amber heard Jessica command as she slumped to the ground, she and the crystal in her hand completely spent.

“Mother…” V whined recalcitrantly.

“Dear…” Heechul cautioned, his voice mildly concerned.

“What?” she asked, the sound changing as she turned away. “Oh,” she gasped, making Amber just curious enough to pry her burning eyes open.

All around them, the power barrier had a growing latticework of cracks rising up. Little by little, they reached towards the top, pulsing against the immediate restraints the Royals tried to put on them. “Break,” Amber smiled weakly, watching as the power barrier shattered, collapsing like so much glass before fading away. She laughed as a low roar started to rise. “It’s time for a change,” she whispered, glancing at the trio of powerful Royals who had the most delicious surprised looks on their faces.

“No!” V denied automatically, turning to his parents as if they could do something. They looked at each other with uncertain expressions and shrugged in tandem. When V reached for the power of the heart crystal, they stopped him this time.

“No,” they stated simply, laying him out on the ground and pinning him there with a show of their own combined power.

For Amber, keeping her eyes on them long enough for that was worth it. Then she turned to wriggle closer to Sunyoung, reaching out and grabbing the nearest hand in hers. “Foolish woman,” she gasped once, taking in the almost peaceful, if aged, features. “You did save me though,” she added, filled with warmth by the sentiment that had brought Sunyoung back to her. Now… if only there was… ah. There he was. Turning her head to peer through the buildings and then the growing throng of Imagos making their way into the now unprotected heart of Metropolis 1, Ren was helping to lead the way. “Idiot,” she laughed once, content to let things fall where they would now. She had done her part, much like Sunyoung had, and she had nothing left to give. Hopefully, it would be enough.

With that final thought, she closed her eyes and gave herself up to the ravenous exhaustion that was clinging to her.


	11. Picking Up the Pieces

She first became aware of quiet voices murmuring nearby. They seemed calm and peaceful even. Just a normal conversation between several people. There was nothing wrong with that but it felt strange given the last thing she remembered. Taking a slightly deeper breath, Sunyoung convinced her eyes to flutter open so she could see where she was. It definitely wasn’t in that container she last recalled.

“Hey. She’s coming around,” she heard in her periphery, the voice familiar and happy.

“Sunyoung?” Now she knew who that voice belonged to, and she turned her head to see Amber’s old face looking down at her as she approached.

“Hey,” she murmured, the word strangely difficult to push past reluctant lips.

Warm hands grabbed hers and Amber smiled. “Hey yourself,” she responded, moving to take a seat on the edge of the bed Sunyoung was resting in.

“We knew you’d come back to us,” another familiar voice spoke, the sound followed closely by an older Wonshik easing into view. Jackson and Aron – also aged – were right there as well, and Ren wasn’t far behind either.

“You’re okay,” Sunyoung laughed once, swallowing and reaching her free hand towards them. “I thought…” she trailed off, not even wanting to voice the words out loud.

“We thought we were done for too,” Jackson admitted ruefully, glancing at his hand once, new wrinkles and age spots evident.

“The main thing now is that you’re okay,” Aron gestured, his voice very much the same despite his wrinkled face and graying hair.

“Yeah. Sounds like you took the brunt of everything,” Wonshik added, sitting down at the foot of the bed. “We got trapped in those tube things but we were spared the lightning.”

Sunyoung grimaced and Amber’s grip on her hand tightened. “Sorry about that,” the other woman apologized, bringing Sunyoung’s hand to her chest. Sunyoung shook her head and squeezed the hands that held hers tighter. She knew there hadn’t been much choice. She wasn’t sure about what had happened after she passed out, but obviously it had been worth it.

“I take it we won?” she asked, glancing around the room and then focusing on Ren who had yet to speak. He seemed oddly quiet and almost guilty.

“Yeah. The Royals have been temporarily detained and we have taken over their accommodations for the time being,” he explained quickly. “No one knew about the energy draining capsules they’ve been using and we’re not sure how long it’s been going on so a lot’s been happening behind the scenes recently.”

“So many questions,” Jackson scowled as he raised his hands with crooked fingers.

“We’re picking up the pieces though. It’s just gonna take some time,” Amber admitted softly, reaching down to brush the hair out of Sunyoung’s face, tracing a strand behind her ear.

“I see,” she murmured thoughtfully, chewing on her lip as she took in the sight of her friends once again. It was a lot to wake up to and she was already tired again. And sore. But she needed to know more. Grimacing as she struggled to sit up – with Amber and then Wonshik’s immediate help – she exhaled and asked, “So. What else did I miss?”

A fair bit apparently. They’d all been out for at least several hours, though Sunyoung herself was the last to wake about a half day after the fact. Per Ren’s explanation, when the barrier had broken, he and those who had been trying to get in to rescue Amber were finally able to act. None of them had counted on a magical barrier – another infraction the Royals had not informed them of as they kept traffic into and out of the center strictly regulated. Though the contacts hadn’t been great in number, their enthusiasm had managed to snag a few other Imagos and that ended up having a waterfall effect. A great number of Imagos had ended up flooding the interior and were able to bear witness to what had happened.

Though Jessica, Heechul, and Taehyung were the primary Royals responsible for the incarceration of Amber and subsequent attempted murder of the ‘visiting’ humans, others had been deemed accomplices to the acts and had been… detained. Metropolis 1 had the oldest Royals and was apparently a bit of an anomaly when it came to how they’d evolved. So far, none of the other eight had reported back any unusual barriers or strange devices. It was possible that they’d been warned ahead of time, but as it stood, only the powerful Royals of Metropolis 1 were being questioned. Their fate had yet to be decided. For the time being, the only regular activity was the maintenance of the mirror roles. And even that was under review, given what Amber had learned about the history of Royals.

“Not only did the Royals have relations, but they originally got the crystal from your world too. That’s why it works so well in your hands and why Royals in particular are able to utilize them so effectively,” Amber explained matter of factly.

“You mean the giant crystals came from our world?” Wonshik blinked in surprise. Obviously that part was news to him too.

“Well, the first one did. The other crystals were apparently created from fragments of the first, after it had gotten a bit larger. I imagine it’s not unlike what you guys did when Sunyoung found a piece,” she laughed, winking at the still bedridden woman.

“Ah,” Wonshik nodded in understanding, patting his pocket where the crystal he had been holding used to be. Of course, they’d all been confiscated for the time being, but as of right now, there was peace in Metropolis 1.

“So now the Council is trying to figure out how to address the whole situation,” Ren added, finally looking a bit more like his old self. It was easy to see that he felt guilty about their aged appearances and his initial inability to do anything to help. The Council didn’t normally get involved as the Royals on it often brushed things under the rug, but since they were caught red handed, they were having to work with Standards this time.

“Do we know when they’ll come to a decision?” Aron asked, arms crossed over his chest with a pensive expression on his face.

“No telling,” Amber shook her head and snorted. “Like on your side, the bureaucracy can drag their feet with the best of em,” she added, rolling her eyes.

It made Sunyoung laugh. They all looked quite different but they acted very much the same. She opened her mouth to say something but was caught unawares by a surprise yawn that made her flush in mild embarrassment. “Sorry,” she laughed, covering her mouth with her free hand. Her other was still held gently in one of Amber’s, a fact she was not upset about in the slightest.

“Someone’s tired,” Jackson laughed lightly with a gentle shake of his head.

“Well I am getting old,” she shot back, the words meant to be light but turning a little bitter before she knew it. Immediately she forced a laugh and a smile she didn’t feel, but the words were already spoken.

Ren ducked his head reflexively and Sunyoung winced at the reminder. She was more than grateful to Aron for standing up and slinging his arm over Ren’s shoulders. “None of that, now. We’ve already gone over this, jerk,” he snorted, shaking the Imago firmly and nudging him towards the door. “But we should probably let _grandma_,” he teased with a sidelong look, ”get some more rest.”

“Sounds good, _grandpa,_” Jackson added as he came up behind them.

“You’re one to talk,” Wonshik snorted when he moved from the bed to join the others, lightly ribbing Jackson with his elbow.

“Abuse!” he wailed plaintively, pretending to be grievously hurt.

They were noisy but their efforts did lighten the mood and made both Sunyoung and Amber smile. “Idiots,” the latter laughed once, shaking her head.

“Yeah,” Sunyoung agreed quietly, guilt still weighing on her. It wasn’t really anyone’s fault that she was old… that they were all old… but it felt like it was her fault for convincing them to come along.

“You know,” Amber started quietly, playing with Sunyoung’s hand as she looked down at it. “Recently, I had been kind of wondering what it might be like to grow old with you, but this was not quite what I was thinking.”

Sunyoung’s cheeks grew warm at the… confession? Definitely the admittance of something. “Yeah?” she asked shyly, pursing her lips as Amber raised her eyes to meet the other woman’s gaze.

“Yeah,” she answered simply, a quiet nod backing the response. She raised Sunyoung’s hand to her lips and placed a kiss on the back of it. “I still think you were foolish to come back, but… I’m glad you did,” she murmured against the still smooth skin.

A quiet shiver of delight raced up Sunyoung’s spine and she blushed harder. “Well… you don’t leave friends behind,” she stated firmly with an emphatic nod. “And… after that kiss in the forest,” she added, speaking slowly and uncertainly, “you had me wondering.”

“Right. That,” Amber laughed once, ducking her head in mild embarrassment. “Sorry about that,” she chuckled, a wry grin plastered on her face.

“I’m not,” Sunyoung promised, using her other hand to grab the collar of Amber’s shirt so she could gently pull her closer. The other woman looked surprised for just a moment before she followed along willingly. Her lips were soft and tender when they kissed, hinting at a world of wonders beyond if they but opened that door.

Amber raised one hand to cup Sunyoung’s cheek and then shifted to rest their foreheads together. Nose to nose, she smiled and intertwined the fingers of their other hands. “It seems a bit late at this point, but… do you wanna go out with me?” she asked, laughing at how cheesy it sounded.

Sunyoung giggled in response and turned her face up just enough to steal a quick kiss. “Yes. I do.”

“Yes!” Amber cheered softly, smiling harder.

“You’re a mess,” Sunyoung laughed, content to just stay in that moment.

“Never said I wasn’t,” the other woman winked, rising up to press another kiss on her forehead before coming back down to eye level.

“So what happens now?” Sunyoung wondered quietly, not really wanting to break the mood but what was going to happen next was pretty important. They were both old and of two different worlds and she wasn’t sure how that was supposed to work out now.

“Well,” Amber started, taking an uncertain breath. “I’m not actually sure yet. The Council has been working on something but as for you and I and the rest of us… I don’t know.”

“Hmm,” Sunyoung hummed thoughtfully, running her thumb against Amber’s hand. “About that… I think I have an idea,” she continued with a shrug.

“Oh?” That caught the other woman’s interest. “Do tell,” she grinned, leaning forward attentively. Taking a breath, Sunyoung nodded once and jumped into her idea.

Amber liked her idea. The boys liked her idea. Ren was neutral on the idea but agreed it was good in the end. The Council on the other hand…

After Sunyoung was recovered enough to get out and about, they’d all gone as a group to speak with the Council about their proposition. Initially, they were quite against it. Amber suspected it likely had a great deal to do with the fact they hadn’t thought of it and they weren’t super keen on changing the way their lives worked so immediately. On the other hand, it would address the need to constantly guard the portals into their world without cutting off the connection entirely. In short, it would simplify their lives considerably.

After literal days of deliberation, the Council finally did come around to a general agreement. No, everyone was not happy, but in light of what had happened, they were at least willing to try a different approach. And since Sunyoung and company would be fronting the magic needed for it (they were already old, what else could happen?), they couldn’t complain about losing Royals. So it was decided.

“Okay,” Sunyoung smiled, looking around at her three friends that would be helping her with this. They were still standing on the platform of Metropolis 1 but they’d be heading down to the heart crystal soon so they could at least utilize it for their magic. “Everyone know what they’re doing?” she asked, the question needless but a good reminder.

“I’m closing the majority of portals connecting our worlds,” Wonshik raised his hand first. He and Aron had argued about who would do the heaviest lifting here and decided with rock, scissors, paper. Aron lost.

“I’ve got Metropolis resettlement,” Aron shrugged, adding, “With the exception of Metropolis 1 of course.”

As one that had used a great deal of sustained magic, Jackson’s task was smaller though far less guaranteed. “I’ve got physical appearance alteration. Maybe we can’t get the time back but at least we can look like ourselves again. Hopefully,” he added, clinging like they all were to the Royal scholar’s idea that the magic could reverse the physical effects of aging on their bodies. The wear and tear of the magic use was permanent, or so they all believed, but it was better than nothing. If it worked.

Sunyoung nodded in confirmation and gripped Amber’s hand tighter in hers. “And I’m responsible for the establishment of the permanent gate between our worlds.” As they had discussed previously, they didn’t want to cut the worlds off entirely, but it would be much easier to limit access by having a guard at one station where they could still look into the human world – and cross over – if needed.

“Sounds like we’re ready,” Aron encouraged with a nod, glancing down at the heart crystal below them. They were all a bit wary of it, considering what had happened the last time they’d been near the giant power structure.

“You’ve got this,” Amber promised, raising Sunyoung’s hand to her lips again.

“We’ll be back soon,” she grinned, reaching her free hand up to brush her fingers against Amber’s cheek fondly. “Wish us luck.”

“Nah. You don’t need it,” Amber shot back with a wink.

“I’m blaming you if anything happens,” Wonshik grumbled with a mock cross look at her.

“Yeah, yeah,” she snorted, waving off his concern with a shake of her head.

“Come on then,” Jackson urged, shuffling towards the edge. “Let’s get this over with and go home. No telling how things are gonna be like when we get back,” he added with a nonplussed look.

“Don’t remind me,” Aron groaned, joining him on the edge.

“It’ll be alright. Somehow,” Sunyoung promised determinedly, leaving Amber’s side with a quick wave so she could join them as well.

“What she said,” Wonshik added and pointed at her, needing to say something. They all laughed at the response and then gasped slightly when Amber summoned the magic to send them down on flying discs.

Together, they waited until they were directly next to the crystal. Hesitantly, they reached and placed their hands upon the warm, hard surface. “Good luck, guys,” Sunyoung encouraged, closing her eyes as she started to focus.

“You too,” they added in near tandem.

Power hummed and grew around them, enveloping them in energy. Sunyoung cleared her mind and focused on her one task, trusting the men to hold up their end of the plan.


	12. Epilogue

Saturday mornings were the best. Neither Sunyoung nor Amber had work and they could stay in bed as long as they wanted to. Or not. This morning they’d decided to go get pancakes for breakfast – the big fluffy ones with whipped cream on top – and then for a nice, leisurely stroll in the park. Hand in hand, they did an easy loop around the walking track, enjoying each other’s company and taking in the sights of the other visitors.

Dogs chased Frisbees on one side and children played tag near the playground. Parents watched over them and there were some couples setting up picnics with blankets over the greenery and baskets of food. It was a beautiful day as well. Not too hot and not too cold and only a handful of clouds flitting across the bright blue sky.

“You wanna get a drink?” Amber suddenly asked, spying a vending machine nearby.

Sunyoung looked at her and smiled, taking in the once again almost ageless features and short brown hair. Long shorts, a t-shirt and an open button up completed her ensemble but she just looked happy and comfortable and it made Sunyoung happy in turn. “Sure. I could go for something,” she agreed, brushing back a strand of her own brunette hair.

Jackson had been successful with his task. They had all returned to their appropriate age appearance, though they definitely felt the lost time. According to Ren, who was now the official go between of the realms, for the time being anyway, things were settling down on the Imago side as well. Both Wonshik’s and Aron’s efforts had proven successful too, though there had been a definite upheaval of, well, everyone, as they had to get used to a new way of life. The class discrepancy had been noticeably reduced and with the Metropolises being ground bound, except for 1, they’d had to develop a better relationship with the poorer members of society who at least knew how to keep busy. The importance of the Royals too had been downgraded and they were learning to accept their new roles with mixed degrees of grace.

The sound of a bottle dropping dragged her attention back to the present and Sunyoung smiled as Amber pressed a cold coffee into her hand. “Here you go,” she smiled, searching her pockets for more change.

“Thank you,” Sunyoung smiled, uncapping the drink and taking a sip as she watched in amusement. She envied Amber her pockets but the woman had a knack for losing things in them. “Here,” she finally laughed, fishing out a bill from her purse to use in the machine.

“Ah. Thanks,” Amber chuckled, accepting the money and turning her attention to making her own choice.

Life for them had returned to relative normalcy as well. Sunyoung had to make up some kind of BS reason as to why she’d missed several days of work (like the guys had) and she’d had to feed her parents a false story so they would stop worrying about her – they hadn’t been able to reach her for several days after all. But after all that, things had returned to a strange sense of normal. Well, as normal as it could be when your former bedroom mirror wasn’t really a mirror anymore and was in fact the only portal between worlds. She had been successful but because she hadn’t known where to anchor the point, her own full length mirror had been what she’d settled on. They were still working on a better placement for it in the meantime.

“Good?” she asked when Amber finally chose a drink.

“Yep,” her girlfriend responded, holding up a bottle of tea instead.

“Good. Let’s have a seat then. I see a bench with some shade,” Sunyoung pointed, eying the running pups across the way.

“You see dogs,” Amber chuckled knowingly as she took Sunyoung’s hand again.

“Never said I didn’t,” she grinned, happy all the same as they wandered over and took a seat on the wooden bench. It was nice sipping on a cool drink and watching the playful critters running around. Oh, children weren’t excluded from that observation, but dogs always held her attention better. Satisfied, Sunyoung leaned her head against Amber’s shoulder and sighed in contentment.

Amber kissed the top of her head and took a sip of her drink before she spoke again. “What do you think about getting a dog?” she asked, the question light and at least semi-spontaneous.

“I think that’s a good idea,” Sunyoung smiled, squeezing Amber’s hand.

“Okay. How about two?” she amended thoughtfully, one brow obviously raised, even if Sunyoung couldn’t see it.

“Even better,” she responded, grinning harder.

“Good, because I told the shelter near our apartment we’d be by a bit later today,” Amber explained nonchalantly.

“Sneaky woman,” Sunyoung giggled, turning to look at her profile.

“Well, I figured it couldn’t hurt to at least look,” Amber explained, turning to wrinkle her nose at Sunyoung. Then she leaned close enough to kiss Sunyoung’s nose and laughed at the wrinkle she got in response.

“You’re just lucky my apartment allows dogs,” Sunyoung shook her head, though her heart was happy.

“Eh. Even if they didn’t, we could always just send them through to the other side to hide them if we needed,” she shrugged mischievously.

“Oh, you’re terrible,” Sunyoung laughed, stealing a quick kiss.

“Resourceful,” she countered, returning the favor.

Sunyoung had to concede that point at least. She nodded in agreement and turned to take a drink, watching the pups as she did so. “Still, it’s a good idea.”

“I’m glad you think so,” Amber admitted, leaning her head against Sunyoung’s.

“I imagine you’ve already got names picked out for them, don’t you?” Sunyoung wondered aloud, giving the other woman a sidelong look.

Amber shrugged. “Maybe one or two.”

Sunyoung laughed. “Alright then, lady. Let’s go see about finding a dog or two. I get to name one of them,” she mandated with a finger pointing at the taller woman.

Amber held her free hand up in surrender, the expression awkward with the drink in it. “Of course,” she grinned. “Wouldn’t have it any other way,” she added, standing up and pulling Sunyoung to her feet in the process.

“Were you thinking big dogs or little dogs?” Sunyoung wondered as they started walking.

“Dunno. I figured we’d just look and see which ones called to us,” she answered, raising Sunyoung’s hand to her lips again.

No matter how many times she did it, the affection always made Sunyoung smile and her stomach do a little flip. “I guess that’s as good a plan as any,” she laughed, bumping into the other woman lightly with her shoulder. Amber laughed at the motion and freed her hand to sling an arm around Sunyoung’s waist.

“Better than nothing,” she nodded, grinning harder when Sunyoung wrapped her arm around Amber’s waist in turn.

“Indeed,” Sunyoung smiled, happy and content and ready for the next part of their lives together. It wasn’t perfect, but it was enough. That was all that mattered at this point.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finished! Not what I would call one of my strongest works but it was definitely fun and I made the deadline! Huzzah! So thank you for those who followed along and I hope that you enjoyed the story. If you're so inclined, I'd love to know what you thought and if not, I hope you have a wonderful day all the same. Thank you!


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